# US 2014/0196110 A1 · Trust-based authentication in a social networking system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0196110 A1 - Document ID: US20140196110A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/736,333 - Filed: 2013-01-08 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-08 - Assignees: Facebook, Inc. - Inventors: Yigal Dan Rubinstein; Joshua Wiseman; Matthew Kai-Shing Choi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140196110A1 ## CPC - H04L 63/08: {for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32)} - G06F 21/31: User authentication - G06F 21/57: Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities - G06Q 10/10: Office automation; Time management - G06F 2221/2117: User registration - G06F 2221/2145: Inheriting rights or properties, e.g., propagation of permissions or restrictions within a hierarchy - G06Q 10/40: Business processes related to social networking or social networking services - G06Q 10/48: using social graphs - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A social networking system determines whether a user is a real public figure or is the correct “public persona” of an individual who is famous within a particular domain. The system selects one or more trusted agents. A trusted agent is a user who has been confirmed or is otherwise trusted within the system. The system traverses the social graph of the trusted agent to score and identify additional users who have a sufficient connection to the trusted agent to authenticate them as other confirmed public personas/figures. The system computes confidence scores of the connections of the trusted agent, considering the strength of the connections and other relevant factors. The system provides confidence scores for one or more target users in the social network based on the confidence scores of the friends or connections connecting the trusted agent and the target user. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer implemented method comprising: using a computer processor to perform a plurality of steps comprising: selecting a trusted agent, the selected trusted agent being a user who has been verified to be a public figure; iteratively determining confidence scores for a plurality of users, wherein a user being authenticated is connected to the trusted agent through the plurality of users, the confidence scores being based on a strength of a connection between the trusted agent and each of the plurality of users; calculating a confidence score of the user being authenticated based on the confidence scores of the plurality of users, the confidence score of the user being authenticated representing an estimate of whether the user being authenticated having a user account that matches a verified public figure; and determining whether the user being authenticated is a public figure based on the confidence score of the user being authenticated. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting the trusted agent is based at least in part on knowledge of the trusted agent observed by the social networking system. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the trusted agent has a predetermined confidence score representing high confidence that the selected trusted agent is a public figure. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein iteratively determining confidence scores for the plurality of users comprises: selecting a user from the plurality of the users, the selected user directly connected to the trusted agent; determining strength of the connection between the selected user and the trusted agent; and calculating the confidence score of the selected user based on the confidence score of the trusted agent and the strength of the connection. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: responsive to the determination of the strength of the connection, calculating a confidence score of a second user based on the confidence score of the selected user and the strength of connection between the second user and the selected user. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a strength of a connection between two users is determined by at least one of following factors: number of friends shared by the two users; length of time overlap between when the two users joined a social networking system; direction of the connection between the two users; and degree of the connection between the two users. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein iteratively determining confidence scores for the plurality of users further comprises: determining hygiene of computers associated with the plurality of users, the hygiene of a computer indicating whether the computer has been exposed to malicious malware; and adjusting the confidence scores of the plurality of users based on the hygiene of the computers associated with the plurality of users. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein calculating the confidence score of the user being authenticated comprises: correlating the confidence scores of the users that are connected to the user being authenticated; and calculating the confidence score of the user being authenticated based on the correlation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein correlating the confidence scores of the users that are directly connected to the user being authenticated comprises: averaging the confidence scores of the users that are connected to the user being authenticated to generate the confidence score of the user being authenticated. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user being authenticated is a public figure based on the confidence score of the user being authenticated comprises: responsive to the user being authenticated having a bad confidence, identifying the user being authenticated as a candidate for further investigation; determining a true identity of the user being authenticated based on user profile, connections and events data associated with the user being authenticated. ### Claim 11 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions, executed by a computer processor, the computer program instructions comprising instructions for: selecting a trusted agent, the selected trusted agent being a user who has been verified to be a public figure; iteratively determining confidence scores for a plurality of users, wherein a user being authenticated is connected to the trusted agent through the plurality of users, the confidence scores being based on a strength of a connection between the trusted agent and each of the plurality of users; calculating a confidence score of the user being authenticated based on the confidence scores of the plurality of users, the confidence score of the user being authenticated representing an estimate of whether the user being authenticated having a user account that matches a verified public figure; and determining whether the user being authenticated is a public figure based on the confidence score of the user being authenticated. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the computer program instructions for selecting the trusted agent is based at least in part on knowledge of the trusted agent observed by the social networking system. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the trusted agent has a predetermined confidence score representing high confidence that the selected trusted agent is a public figure. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the computer program instructions for iteratively determining confidence scores for the plurality of users comprise computer program instructions for: selecting a user from the plurality of the users, the selected user is directly connected to the trusted agent; determining strength of the connection between the selected user and the trusted agent; and calculating the confidence score of the selected user based on the confidence score of the trusted agent and, the strength of the connection. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising computer program instructions for: responsive to the determination of the strength of the connection, calculating a confidence score of a second user based on the confidence score of the selected user and the strength of connection between the second user and the selected user. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein a strength of a connection between two users is determined by at least one of following factors: number of friends shared by the two users; length of time overlap between when the two users joined a social networking system; direction of the connection between the two users; and degree of the connection between the two users. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the computer program instructions for iteratively determining confidence scores for the plurality of users further comprise computer program instructions for: determining hygiene of computers associated with the plurality of users, the hygiene of a computer indicating whether the computer has been exposed to malicious malware; and adjusting the confidence scores of the plurality of users based on the hygiene of the computers associated with the plurality of users. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the computer program instructions for calculating the confidence score of the user being authenticated comprise computer program instructions for: correlating the confidence t scores of the users that are connected to the user being authenticated; and calculating the confidence score of the user being authenticated based on the correlation. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the computer program instructions for correlating the confidence scores of the users that are directly connected to the user being authenticated comprise computer program instructions for: averaging the confidence scores of the users that are connected to the target user to generate the confidence score of the user being authenticated. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the computer program instructions for determining whether the user being authenticated is a public figure based on the confidence score of the user being authenticated comprise computer program instructions for: responsive to the user being authenticated having a bad confidence score, identifying the user being authenticated as a candidate for further investigation; determining true identity of the user being authenticated based on user profile, connections and events data associated with the user being authenticated.