IP based security applications using location, port and/or device identifier information
AssigneeVerizon Services Corp.
InventorRobert T. Baum
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for determining, in a reliable manner, a port, physical location and/or device identifier, such as a MAC address, associated with a device using an IP address and for using such information, e.g., to support one or more security applications is described. Supported security applications include restricting access to services based on the location of a device seeking access to a service, determining the location of stolen devices, and verifying the location of the source of a message or other IP signal, e.g., to determine if a prisoner is contacting a monitoring service from a predetermined location.
Claims37
A security method for use in a communication system, the security method comprising:
- receiving an IP packet including a source address and a destination address;
- obtaining physical location information indicating the location of a user device which is the source of said IP packet;
- and
- determining, as a function of the obtained physical location information, an action to be taken.
14 The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- determining if the destination address corresponds to a service for which security is to be provided;
- and
- wherein said steps of obtaining physical location information and determining an action to be taken are performed when it is determined that said destination address corresponds to a service for which security is to be provided.
A security device for use in a communication system in which IP packets are transmitted, the device comprising:
- means for receiving an IP packet including a source address and a destination address;
- means for obtaining physical location information indicating the location of a user device which is the source of said IP packet;
- and
- means for determining, as a function of the obtained physical location information, an action to be taken.
A stolen device detection method, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing a list of device identifiers corresponding to stolen devices;
- receiving an IP packet from a device including an IP address associated with said device;
- using said IP address associated with said device to determine a device identifier also associated with said device;
- comparing the determined device identifier to said stored list of device identifiers corresponding to stolen devices;
- and
- determining that said IP address corresponds to a stolen device when said determined device identifier matches a device identifier in said stored list.
A system for detecting stolen devices using IP addresses, the system comprising:
- a stored list of device identifiers corresponding to stolen devices;
- means for receiving an IP packet from a device including an IP address associated with said device;
- means for determining a device identifier associated with said device from said IP address associated with said device;
- means for comparing the determined device identifier to said stored list of device identifiers corresponding to stolen devices;
- and
- means for determining that said IP address corresponds to a stolen device when said determined device identifier matches a device identifier in said stored list.
A location verification method, the method comprising;
- receiving an IP packet including a source address;
- determining from said source address the geographic location from which said IP packet was sent;
- comparing the determined geographic location information to expected information indicating the expected source of an IP packet;
- and
- determining a reporting error when said determined geographic location information does not match the expected geographic location information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.