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US 8,413,220 B1Granted
System and method for user authentication
AssigneeIntuit Inc.
InventorsChris Quinn, Anthony Creed, Kenichi Mori, Bennett R. Blank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for user authentication involves initiating an authentication process, receiving images associated with the authentication process, selecting an image from the images to generate a selection; and obtaining authentication based on the selection, where the image is associated with the authentication process and sent prior to initiating the authentication process.
Claims24
A method of user authentication comprising:
- receiving, from a user, a first selection of a first image, wherein the first image is associated with a template answer, wherein the template answer describes information absent from the first image and known to the user, and wherein the template answer comprises a plurality of words each assigned a weight representing relevance to the template answer;
- notifying, by a computer processor, a server application of the first selection;
- sending, by the computer processor, the template answer to the server application;
- sending, after notifying the server application and sending the template answer, a request to the server application to initiate an authentication process;
- receiving, after sending the request, a first plurality of images comprising the first image;
- displaying the first plurality of images to the user;
- receiving, from the user and in response to displaying the first plurality of images, a second selection of the first image from the first plurality of images and a test answer associated with the first image;
- notifying, by the computer processor, the server application of the second selection;
- and
- sending, by the computer processor, the test answer to the server application,
- wherein the server application calculates a comparison metric by:
- identifying a plurality of matching words between the test answer and the template answer;
- and
- summing a plurality of weights corresponding to the plurality of matching words to generate the comparison metric, and
- wherein authentication of the user by the server application is based on the second selection and the comparison metric.
12 more elements
A method of authenticating a user comprising:
- receiving, from a user, a first selection of a first image, wherein the first image is associated with a template answer, wherein the template answer describes information absent from the first image and known to the user, and wherein the template answer comprises a plurality of words each assigned a weight representing relevance to the template answer;
- receiving, after receiving the first selection, a request to authenticate the user;
- sending, in response to receiving the request, a first plurality of images comprising the first image for display to the user;
- receiving, in response to sending the first plurality of images, a second selection of the first image and a test answer associated with the first image from the user;
- calculating a comparison metric by:
- identifying a plurality of matching words between the test answer and the template answer;
- and
- summing a plurality of weights corresponding to the plurality of matching words to generate the comparison metric;
- and
- authenticating, by a computer processor, the user based on the second selection and the comparison metric.
7 more elements
A method of authenticating a user comprising:
- receiving, from a user, a first selection of a first image;
- associating a first template answer with the first image, wherein the first template answer describes information absent from the first image and known to the user, and wherein the first template answer comprises a plurality of words each assigned a weight representing relevance to the first template answer;
- receiving, after associating the first template answer with the first image, a request to authenticate the user;
- sending, in response to receiving the request, the first image to the user;
- receiving, from the user and in response to sending the first image, a test answer associated with the first image;
- calculating a comparison metric by:
- identifying a plurality of matching words between the test answer and the first template answer;
- and
- summing a plurality of weights corresponding to the plurality of matching words to generate the comparison metric;
- and authenticating, by a computer processor, the user based on the comparison metric.
7 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions to authenticate a user, the instructions comprising functionality to:
- receive, from a user, a first selection of a first image, wherein the first image is associated with a template answer, wherein the template answer describes information absent from the first image and known to the user, and wherein the template answer comprises a plurality of words each assigned a weight representing relevance to the template answer;
- receive, after receiving the first selection, a request to authenticate the user;
- send, in response to receiving the request, a first plurality of images comprising the first image to the user;
- receive, in response to sending the first plurality of images, a second selection of the first image and a test answer associated with the first image from the user;
- calculate a comparison metric by:
- identifying a plurality of matching words between the test answer and the template answer;
- and
- summing a plurality of weights corresponding to the plurality of matching words to generate the comparison metric;
- and authenticate, by a computer processor, the user based on the second selection and the comparison metric.
6 more elements
A system for authenticating a user comprising:
- a computer processor;
- a memory;
- an image repository configured to receive a first selection of a first image from a user,
- wherein the first image is associated with a template answer wherein the template answer describes information absent from the first image and
- known to the user, wherein the template answer comprises a plurality of words each assigned a weight representing relevance to the template answer;
- and
- an authentication engine residing in the memory, executing on the computer processor, operatively connected to image repository, and configured to:
- receive, after receiving the first selection, a request to authenticate the user;
- send, in response to receiving the request, a first plurality of images comprising the first image to the user;
- receive, in response to sending the first plurality of images, a second selection of the first image and a test answer associated with the first image from the user;
- calculate a comparison metric by:
- identifying a plurality of matching words between the test answer and the template answer;
- and summing a plurality of weights corresponding to the plurality of matching words to generate the comparison metric;
- and authenticate the user based on the second selection and the comparison metric.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.