Dynamic Application Hiding via Environmental Threat Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computing devices, especially mobile devices, are vulnerable to unauthorized access and use due to loss, theft, or casual sharing, with existing security measures like password protection being inadequate as they do not prevent unauthorized parties from discovering and accessing sensitive applications.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for dynamic application hiding, where a computing device detects environmental cues and matches them against threat criteria to determine the presence of a threat, hiding sensitive applications from the user interface to prevent unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If password protection is used to secure applications, then basic access control is provided, but unauthorized parties can still discover and access sensitive applications through social engineering or guessing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the application icon and visual indicator from the user interface, removing the visual cue that allows unauthorized discovery. The application remains functional for authorized users but becomes invisible to others, effectively taking out the vulnerable element (visual presence) while preserving the core function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the visual state of the application by making it invisible or altering its appearance based on environmental context. When a threat is detected, the application icon disappears or changes form, preventing unauthorized access while maintaining normal visibility in safe conditions.
2Ease of operation
If applications are always visible on the user interface, then ease of access is maintained, but the device is vulnerable to unauthorized access in public or shared environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the application visibility dynamic rather than static. The application icon appears or disappears based on real-time environmental assessment, transitioning between visible and hidden states according to the detected threat level, thus adapting accessibility to contextual safety requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an environmental cue detection system as an intermediary between the user and the application. This intermediary assesses the surrounding context and mediates whether the application should be visible, blocking unauthorized access attempts based on environmental factors rather than direct user interaction.
3Reliability
If environmental cue detection is implemented to detect threats, then application visibility can be dynamically controlled, but device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages existing multi-functional sensors already present in modern devices (camera, microphone, GPS, accelerometer) for security purposes. These sensors serve their primary functions while also detecting environmental cues for threat assessment, eliminating the need for dedicated security hardware and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the device's own existing sensors and processing capabilities to perform environmental assessment and security decisions autonomously. The device self-monitors its environment and automatically adjusts application visibility without requiring external security systems or complex centralized control architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
In an approach to enhancing the security features of user interfaces of computing devices, a computing device repeatedly detects environmental cues in its vicinity. The computing device determines the presence of a threat based on matching at least one of the detected environmental cues with one or more stored threat criteria. The computing device determines the presence of one or more sensitive applications on a user interface. Having determined the presence of one or more sensitive applications on the user interface, the computing device hides the one or more sensitive applications.