User Authentication Device with Biometric and Environmental Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing user authentication systems are vulnerable to attacks due to the dynamic nature of authentication codes, which can be compromised if an unattended or stolen token is accessed, leading to potential unauthorized access to secured areas or systems.
Innovation Solution
A user authentication device that incorporates sensors to sense biometric measurements and environmental characteristics, generating time-varying authentication information to enhance security by combining these inputs with stored secrets and algorithms to produce unpredictable authentication codes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If time-based dynamic authentication codes are used, then authentication security is improved, but vulnerability to attacks on unattended or stolen tokens increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple authentication factors (biometric measurements, environmental characteristics, and stored secrets) into a single authentication code generation process. This merging ensures that even if a token is stolen, the attacker cannot generate valid authentication codes without access to all required factors, thereby resolving the vulnerability while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously updates authentication codes based on real-time biometric measurements and environmental characteristics. This dynamic approach ensures that authentication codes are not only time-based but also context-dependent, making them unpredictable even if previous codes are compromised, thus resolving the contradiction between security and vulnerability.
2Reliability
If biometric measurements and environmental characteristics are incorporated, then authentication strength is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication device is designed to perform multiple functions: storing secrets, sensing biometric measurements, detecting environmental characteristics, and generating authentication codes. By consolidating these functions into a single device, the patent achieves strong authentication without proportionally increasing overall system complexity, as the device handles all operations internally.
Solution Approach 2:
The device autonomously combines stored secrets with real-time biometric and environmental data to generate authentication codes without requiring external processing. This self-service capability strengthens authentication while minimizing the complexity of external system integration, as the device performs all computational tasks independently.
Data Source
AI summary
There is disclosed a user authentication device for generating time-varying authentication information for authenticating a user in an authentication system. The device comprising at least one sensor for sensing at least one of a biometric measurement of the user and a characteristic of the environmental surroundings of the device.There is also disclosed an authentication system and a method for authenticating a user in an authentication system.