US 8,914,851 B2 · Method and system for improved security

Abstract

An improved authentication method and system is provided where a user securely accesses a variety of target servers for online email, online banking, credit card purchases, ecommerce, brokerage services, corporate databases, and online content (movies, music and software). The method involves a bridge server performing authentication tasks that allow a user to access a server or a group of servers with multiple security levels. The method eliminates the need for the user to remember multiple usernames/passwords for each target server. The method also allows one bridge server and one set of security devices to be used to authenticate the user for multiple servers, thereby reducing security costs and increasing user convenience. A location-based password-ID generating device is also described for secure location-based access.

Claims31

Dependent claims

A method of providing secure access to a first server for a user, the first server providing a plurality of sets of services, each set of services in the plurality of sets of services requiring user authentication at a corresponding security level, the method comprising:

at a second server different than the first server:
receiving, from the first server, a list of said plurality of sets of services and the corresponding security levels;
receiving a request to authenticate the user for accessing the first server;
providing the list of the plurality of sets of services of the first server to the user;
receiving a selection of a particular security level to use a corresponding set of services provided by the first server;
receiving a set of security information to authenticate the user for the selected particular security level;
validating the received set of security information by the second server;
and
sending a set of credentials from the second server to the first server to authenticate the user on the first server for using the set of services corresponding to the selected particular security level.

6 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for authenticating a user, the computer program executable by a processing unit of an authentication server, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a list of a set of servers to the user;
receiving a selection of a particular server from the displayed list of the set of servers;
receiving information for authenticating the user to access the particular server;
validating the information received for authenticating the user;
validating an identity of the particular server using an identification code mutually recognized by the authentication server and the particular server;
and
sending, after (i) validating the information received for authenticating the user and (ii) validating the identity of the particular server, a set of credentials to the particular server to enable the user to access the particular server.

4 more elements

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for providing secure access to a first server for a user by authenticating the user by a second server different than the first server, the first server providing a plurality of sets of services, each set of services in the plurality of sets of services requiring user authentication at a corresponding security level, the computer program executable by a processing unit of the second server, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving, from the first server, a list of said plurality of sets of services and the corresponding security levels;
receiving a request to authenticate the user by the second server for accessing the first server;
providing the list of the plurality of sets of services of the first server to the user;
receiving a selection of a particular security level to use a corresponding set of services provided by the first server;
receiving a set of security information to authenticate the user for the selected particular security level;
validating the received set of security information by the second server;
and
sending a set of credentials from the second server to the first server to authenticate the user on the first server for using the set of services corresponding to the selected particular security level.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for improved security

Life of this patent

Method and system for improved security

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims31