Account information management method using user mobile device

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for managing account information using an extension program installed on a web browser, a mobile password manager which is an application program installed on a user mobile device and used for account information management, and a relay server in communication connection with the extension program and the mobile password manager. According to the account information management method provided by one embodiment of the invention, a user can conveniently manage and automatically input a user name and a password set for each online service which the user hopes to access by using a mobile device held by the user; and the problem that data are stolen due to the fact that server storage of the account information is easily attacked externally and the problem of the risk that the data are stolen due to the fact that a main password of software for managing the account information is leaked can be solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an account information management method, which can not only conveniently manage and automatically input the user name and password set for each online service that a user wants to access, but also can strongly resist the theft of account information by external attacks. Background Art

[0002] In order to manage accounts for numerous online services, users need to manage their usernames and passwords for each online service they visit. Some people keep track of their usernames and passwords in paper notebooks, some keep them on their smartphones, and some install account information management software (hereinafter referred to as password managers) on each computer they use.

[0003] The password manager works by storing the username and password that a user enters when they visit a specific website using a web browser and try to log in, and automatically enters the stored username and password when the user tries to log in to the website again.

[0004] The existing password manager has the following two characteristics in terms of technical structure. First, in response to the situation where a user uses multiple personal computers or mobile devices to access online services, the password manager will upload the user's password to the password management server. When the user needs to enter the username and password, the username and password will be downloaded from the password management server and entered. Second, in order to prove that the user is a legitimate user of the password manager, the master password of the password manager must be entered.

[0005] However, due to the method of storing user account information (i.e., user name and password) on the server (i.e., centrally managing account information through the server) and the above-mentioned method of using the master password, when the password management server is attacked from the outside, the account information of all users who have joined the service may be stolen at once, or if the master password is leaked to a hacker, all the account information of the user may be stolen.

[0006] Therefore, an alternative technology is needed to achieve decentralization, that is, user account information is not stored on the server, while allowing users to manage account information in a safer and more convenient way. Summary of the invention

[0007] Technical issues

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide an account information management method, which enables a user to conveniently manage and automatically input a user name and password set for each online service that the user wishes to access using a mobile device that the user holds.

[0009] In addition, the present invention aims to provide an account information management method with enhanced security, which can solve the problem of vulnerability of data being stolen due to external attacks caused by storing account information on the server and the risk of data being stolen due to leakage of the master password of the software used for account information management.

[0010] Means of solving the problem

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing account information using a mobile password manager which is an extension installed on a web browser, an application installed on a user's mobile device and used for account information management, and a relay server communicatively connected to the extension and the mobile password manager.

[0012] The account information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: (a) the mobile password manager encrypts and manages the account information of each website registered by the user; (b) the mobile password manager obtains an information recording code generated according to the extension program, the information recording code records the website connection information corresponding to one of the domain name information or IP information of the website that the user wants to access through the web browser; (c) the mobile password manager obtains the account information corresponding to the website connection information recorded in the information recording code according to the account information of each website under management, and sends the obtained account information to the relay server; (d) the relay server sends the account information received from the mobile password manager to the extension program; (e) the extension program automatically enters the account information into a login window displayed on the web browser, so that the account information sent by the relay server can be used to log in to the website corresponding to the website connection information.

[0013] Effects of the Invention

[0014] According to the account information management method of the embodiment of the present invention, the effect is that the user can use the mobile device held by the user to conveniently manage and automatically input the user name and password set for each online service to be accessed.

[0015] The account information management method according to the embodiment of the present invention can solve the problem that the server storing account information is easily attacked and data is stolen by external attacks, and the risk of data being stolen due to the leakage of the master password of the account information management software. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an account information management method using a user's mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 and Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an account information management method using a user's mobile device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 4 and Figure 5 2 is an example of a screen of a mobile password manager which is an application for managing account information installed on a mobile device of a user according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 6 and Figure 7 is an example of a login screen in a case where an extension program is installed in a web browser according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The present invention can be varied in various ways and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are shown in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific embodiment, and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

[0021] When describing the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the numbers (e.g., first, second, etc.) used in the description process of this specification are merely identifiers for distinguishing one constituent element from another constituent element.

[0022] In addition, throughout the specification, when it comes to a component being "connected" or "interconnected" to another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly connected or directly interconnected to the other component, but it may also be connected or interconnected through other intermediate components, unless otherwise specifically stated. In addition, throughout the specification, when it comes to a part "including" a component, unless otherwise specifically stated, it means that other components may also be included rather than excluding other components. In addition, terms such as "component" and "module" used in this specification refer to a component that processes at least one function or operation, meaning that it can be implemented with one or more hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0023] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an account information management method using a user's mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 and Figure 3 is a diagram showing an account information management method using a user's mobile device according to another embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 and Figure 52 is an example of a screen of a mobile password manager which is an application for managing account information installed on a mobile device of a user according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] According to an embodiment of the present invention, Figures 1 to 3 As shown, in order to use the user's mobile device to manage and automatically input account information, an extension program 100 installed on a web browser 10 as a program for extending functions, an application installed on the user's mobile device for managing account information (hereinafter simply named as a mobile password manager 200) and a relay server 300 (intermediate server) connected to the extension program 100 and the mobile password manager 200 are used.

[0026] Here, the web browser 10 is a web-based application for searching and viewing Internet content, and is installed on a terminal used by a user. At this time, the access terminal can be an independent device other than the mobile device, such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, etc., or it can be the mobile device itself.

[0027] See also Figures 1 to 3 , describing an account information management method using a user's mobile device according to the present invention.

[0028] The mobile password manager 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention encrypts and manages the account information of each website registered by the user (see Figure 1 (a)).

[0029] As described in the background art above, in the prior art password management technology, user account information (i.e., user name and password) is centrally managed on a server. Therefore, if the password management server is attacked from the outside, there is a problem that the account information of all users who join the service is stolen at once. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention, in order to achieve decentralization in which user account information is not stored on a server, the user account information registered for each website is stored and managed by a mobile password manager 200 installed on a mobile device held by the user himself.

[0030] In one embodiment, when a user selects and activates an extension program installed in the browser after visiting a specific website using a web browser, the extension program 100 extracts domain name information from the website connected to the web browser 10 and generates an asymmetric key (see Figure 2 S11 or Figure 1 (f) in the figure.

[0031] In another embodiment, if the extension installed in the browser has been activated, the user's website login access attempts are monitored (see Figure 2 If a login attempt by the user to enter a username and password is detected, the domain name information can be extracted from the connected website and an asymmetric key can be generated (see Figure 2 S11 or Figure 1 (f) in the figure.

[0032] As an example, when a login access screen of a website is displayed through the web browser 10, the extension program 100 can focus on monitoring the user name / password input box on the login connection screen. At this time, if the user performs an action such as placing a cursor in the corresponding user name / password input box, the extension program 100 can determine that the user is trying to log in to the website.

[0033] As another example, the extension program 100 may use the eye tracking technology to detect that the user's gaze is fixed on the user name / password input box on the login access screen, and may determine that the user is trying to log in to the website.

[0034] When an attempt to log in to a website as described above is detected, the extension program 100 extracts the domain name information of the corresponding website (e.g., the URL of the website, etc.) from the web browser 10, and generates an asymmetric key (i.e., a public key and a private key) to be used in the process of encrypting and decrypting the user account information. This embodiment takes the domain name information of the website as an example, but IP information can also be used as website connection information that can identify the corresponding website.

[0035] According to one embodiment, whenever an attempt to log in to a website is detected, the extension program 100 may generate a new asymmetric key. In this way, the method of generating a new asymmetric key each time an attempt to log in to a website is detected may have a beneficial effect in terms of security. However, depending on the implementation of the system, the asymmetric key may also be reused within a specific validity period.

[0036] Thereafter, the extension program 100 may generate a QR code (Quick Response code) in which predetermined connection information for executing the account information management service according to an embodiment of the present invention is recorded (see Figure 2 S15) and a pop-up window can be issued so that the generated QR code can be displayed on the web browser screen. For example, when the user clicks on the login screen Figure 6 When the reference numeral 21 in FIG. Figure 7 A pop-up window with reference numeral 22 in the figure.

[0037] Afterwards, the user can run the mobile password manager 200 installed on the mobile device he / she holds (i.e., run the application) and use the QR code scanning function of the mobile password manager 200 to scan the QR code. Then, the mobile password manager 200 can obtain the connection information recorded in the QR code by obtaining the QR code generated by the extension program 100 (see Figure 1 (b) or Figure 2 (S16).

[0038] At this time, in order to ensure the security of the application usage process, a biometric authentication program for user authentication (e.g., facial authentication, fingerprint authentication, etc. based on a smartphone) can be added before the application execution start time of the mobile password manager 100.

[0039] In this specification, the case of generating a QR code and displaying it in a pop-up window is used as an example, but in addition, various other codes for recording information can also be used. However, in order to explain the present invention conveniently and centrally, the following description will be centered on the case of using a QR code.

[0040] In the present invention, the connection information recorded in the two-dimensional code to perform the account information management service may include the following data.

[0041] In the first embodiment, the connection information recorded in the QR code may include at least one of the domain name information of the website that the user attempts to log in and the information corresponding to the public key in the asymmetric key generated by the extension program 100 .

[0042] According to the design of the system, in the case where the mobile password manager 200 does not store the server information or relay path information related to the relay server 300 that relays the process of transmitting the user account information to the extension program 100, the connection information may further include the server information or relay path information related to the relay server 300 that cooperates with the extension program 100 to perform the account information management service. Here, the relay path information may be determined by the type of communication protocol used to send and receive data between the extension program 100 and the relay server 300, but network push usernames, WebSocket usernames, FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) usernames, etc. are also applicable to this.

[0043] As described above, when the domain name information and public key information are recorded in the QR code, the mobile password manager 200 can obtain the account information corresponding to the domain name information recorded in the QR code by referring to the account information or account information list of each website managed by it (see Figure 1 (c-1) or Figure 2 in S17).

[0044] At this time, if there is no account information corresponding to the domain name information, the account information can be added to the mobile password manager 200 through the add account information input window, such as Figure 5 Screen example shown.

[0045] As described above, after obtaining the account information corresponding to the domain name information, the mobile password manager 200 can display the corresponding account information or list on the application screen, allowing the user to select the account information to be used (see Figure 2 S19 in ).

[0046] At this time, since the account information is initially encrypted and then displayed on the application screen in a decrypted state, depending on how the application is designed or for security reasons, a biometric authentication procedure (such as smartphone-based facial authentication or fingerprint authentication) can certainly be added to authenticate the user before the account information is decrypted or before the user authorizes the transmission of the account information.

[0047] Thus, the mobile password manager 200 can send the account information selected by the user to the relay server 300 (see Figure 1 (c-2) or Figure 3 S23 in ). Figure 4 An example of an application screen related to this is shown.

[0048] In this case, the mobile password manager 200 can encrypt the account information selected by the user and send it to the relay server 300. That is, the mobile password manager 200 can encrypt the account information selected by the user using the public key recorded in the QR code (see Figure 3 S22 in the process), and then sends the encrypted account information to the relay server 300.

[0049] Thereafter, the relay server 300 transmits the encrypted account information received from the mobile password manager 200 to the extension program 100 (see Figure 1 (d) or Figure 3 S24 in ).

[0050] Thus, the extension program 100 uses the private key in the asymmetric key to decrypt the encrypted account information sent from the mobile password manager 200 via the relay server 300 (see Figure 3 In addition, the extension program 100 automatically inputs the decrypted information account into a login access window (loginwindow) displayed on the web browser, so that the decrypted account information can be used for login access to the corresponding website (see Figure 1 (e) or Figure 3S26 in ).

[0051] After the account information is automatically input through the above process, the result can be directed to the mobile password manager 200 through the relay server 300 (see Figure 3 S27 and S28 in ).

[0052] In addition, when the website is changed or the username / password input box disappears on the screen (ie, when switching from the website login access screen to another screen), the extension program 100 clears the pop-up displayed QR code and can terminate the path with the relay server 300 .

[0053] In the above, the case of directly recording the public key and the domain name information in the QR code is mainly described. However, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, due to the limitation of the data capacity of the QR code, a different method can also be used. Figure 2 S12, S13, S14, S20 and S21 are described.

[0054] According to the second embodiment, the expansion program 100 can Figure 2 The public key among the asymmetric keys generated in S11 is sent to the relay server 300 (see Figure 2 Thus, the relay server 300 stores the public key received from the extension program 100 (see Figure 2 S13 in the example), and sends the path URL information capable of confirming the storage location of the public key to the extension program 100 ( Figure 2 in S14).

[0055] Thus, the extension 100 can be Figure 2 Step S15 in the process generates a two-dimensional code having the website domain information and the path URL information recorded therein, and publishes a pop-up window on the web browser screen to display the generated two-dimensional code in the window.

[0056] In this case, the mobile password manager 200 can request the public key information from the relay server 300 according to the path URL information recorded in the QR code (see Figure 2 S20 in ), obtain the public key information provided by the transit server 300 (see Figure 2 After S21 in Figure 2 In step S22, the user's account information is encrypted using the acquired public key information, and then transmitted to the extension program through the transit server.

[0057] Although the above content is described with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, it is not difficult to understand that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes to the present invention without departing from the concept and scope of the present invention as described in the claims.

Claims

1. An account information management method, as a method for managing account information using a mobile password manager which is an extension installed on a web browser, an application installed on a user's mobile device and used for account information management, and a relay server communicatively connected to the extension and the mobile password manager, comprising the following steps: (a) the mobile password manager encrypts and manages the account information of each website registered by the user; (b) the mobile password manager acquires an information recording code generated according to the extension program, wherein the information recording code records website connection information corresponding to one of the domain name information or IP information of the website that the user wishes to access through the web browser; (c) the mobile password manager obtains the account information corresponding to the website connection information recorded in the information recording code according to the account information of each website under management, and sends the obtained account information to the relay server; (d) the relay server sending the account information received from the mobile password manager to the extension program; (e) The extension program automatically inputs the account information into a login window displayed on a web browser, so that the account information sent by the relay server can be used to log in to the website corresponding to the website connection information.

2. The account information management method according to claim 1, before step (b), further comprising: (f) The extension is activated by the user's selection, or if already activated, monitors the user's attempt to log in to a website using the web browser, and upon detecting that the user is attempting to log in to a website, extracts the website connection information or generates an asymmetric key.

3. The account information management method according to claim 2, The information recording code adopts a two-dimensional code, After step (f) and before step (b), the method further comprises: The extension program generates a QR code that records the website connection information and the public key information in the asymmetric key, and publishes a pop-up window to display the generated QR code on the web browser screen.

4. The account information management method according to claim 2, The information recording code adopts a two-dimensional code, However, after step (f) and before step (b), the method further comprises: The extension program transmits the generated public key of the asymmetric key to the relay server; The relay server stores the public key received from the extension program, and sends the extension program a channel URL information that can confirm the storage location of the public key; The extension program generates a QR code that records the website connection information and the channel URL information, and publishes a pop-up window so that the generated QR code is displayed on the web browser screen, After the step (b), the method further comprises: The mobile password manager obtains the public key generated by the extension program according to the channel URL information recorded in the QR code.

5. The account information management method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: In the step (c), The mobile password manager uses the public key generated by the extension program to encrypt the account information corresponding to the website connection information recorded in the QR code, and then transmits the encrypted account information to the relay server.

6. The account information management method according to claim 5, characterized in that: In the step (e), The extension receives the encrypted account information from the mobile password manager through the relay server, decrypts the encrypted account information using a private key in the asymmetric key, and automatically enters the decrypted account information into a login window displayed on the web browser.

7. The account information management method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In the step (f), The extension generates a new asymmetric key each time an attempt to log into the website is detected by recognizing that the user chooses to activate the extension or a username and password input window in the website body content.

8. The account information management method according to claim 1, characterized in that: A biometric authentication procedure for authenticating a user using the mobile password manager is added before at least one of the time when the application of the mobile password manager is executed, the time when the account information is displayed on the application screen by the mobile password manager, and the time when the user authorizes the transmission of the account information.

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