Authenticable Communication Security Insight Panel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Phishing attacks pose significant financial and reputational risks, with existing prevention methods, such as employee training and warning systems, often being ineffective due to human error and the sophistication of phishing messages, leading to substantial losses and damage to companies.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that provides security insights by assessing the risk of authenticable communications, including identifying sources and content types, and redirecting potentially risky communications to a separated server for authentication, with proxy content being presented to recipients until confirmation, thereby enhancing security awareness and reducing phishing risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If employee training and warning systems are used to prevent phishing, then security awareness is improved, but human error and sophistication of phishing messages cause these methods to be ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary authentication system between the phishing email and the user. This system analyzes email characteristics, sender reputation, and content patterns to detect phishing attempts before users interact with them. The intermediary layer provides authentication mechanisms and warning indicators that go beyond traditional training, creating a technical barrier that compensates for human vulnerability to sophisticated phishing messages.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authentication and analysis of incoming emails before they reach the user. By pre-assessing sender credibility, email content, and attachment safety, the system proactively identifies phishing attempts and prevents user exposure. This preliminary action occurs automatically without requiring user awareness or decision-making, addressing the limitation of training-based approaches.
2Reliability
If authentication mechanisms are implemented for all communications, then security is improved, but system complexity and user burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial authentication by applying authentication mechanisms selectively rather than universally. The system analyzes email characteristics and applies authentication only to suspicious or high-risk communications. This partial approach maintains security for critical threats while avoiding the complexity and user burden of authenticating every single email, thus resolving the contradiction between security improvement and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different authentication levels and mechanisms based on the specific characteristics of each communication. High-risk emails receive rigorous authentication and detailed verification, while low-risk communications pass through with minimal intervention. This localized quality approach ensures strong security where needed while maintaining system simplicity for routine communications.
3Reliability
If security warnings are provided to users, then awareness is improved, but users tend to ignore warning messages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs visual indicators such as color-coded warning systems to communicate security risks. Different colors indicate different levels of threat, with red for high-risk phishing attempts, yellow for moderate concerns, and green for safe communications. This visual approach leverages human color perception to quickly convey security status without requiring users to read detailed warnings, improving both effectiveness and ease of response.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring users to actively seek security information or interpret complex warnings, the system inverts the approach by providing clear, immediate visual indicators that work intuitively. The authentication results are presented in an inverted manner where safe communications are clearly marked as such, eliminating the need for users to interpret ambiguous warnings or make complex security decisions.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to security risk warning system that a recipient may acknowledge and act accordingly. Security insights may be provided explicitly in a security insight panel that may clearly identify vulnerabilities specific to a particular authenticable communication. This may limit risk that a recipient would ignore or not understand the risk. Security insights may be provided for a combination of indicated source, recipients, and content, such as links, text, attachments, and images. Security insights may be provided on site, such as on or proximate to the reviewed portions of the authenticable communication.