Dynamic User Interface Proxy for Secure Cross-Device Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems lack mechanisms for portable personalization or customization of user interfaces across various devices, and users are hesitant to trust ubiquitous devices due to security concerns regarding password and sensitive information capture.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic user interface proxy system that uses physical keys to authenticate and associate user devices with generic devices, enabling secure and customizable user interface experiences by transforming and routing user interface events based on previously determined associations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional systems provide different versions of user interfaces for each device platform, then device compatibility is improved, but system complexity increases due to required porting of operating system and applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a user interface proxy server as an intermediary component that receives user interface events from various user devices and forwards them to the appropriate application instances. This mediator eliminates the need for separate user interface implementations for each device platform, as the proxy server handles the adaptation layer between diverse devices and the application, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining broad device compatibility.
2Ease of operation
If users trust ubiquitous devices with passwords and sensitive information, then ease of operation is improved, but security risk increases due to potential capture of sensitive information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authentication and trust verification functions from the ubiquitous user devices and relocates them to the user interface proxy server. The proxy server implements security measures to verify user identities and protect sensitive information, separating the convenience of using various devices from the security responsibilities. This extraction allows users to operate diverse devices easily while the proxy server maintains security controls, thus improving ease of operation without compromising security.
3Reliability
If a dynamic user interface proxy implements physical key authentication and device association, then security is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional authentication mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The user interface proxy server serves as an intermediary that centralizes the physical key authentication and device association logic. Rather than implementing complex authentication mechanisms in each user device, the proxy server handles the verification of physical keys, the association of devices with users, and the management of authentication states. This centralization improves security while keeping individual user devices relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are provided for dynamically connecting and transforming user interface events between user and generic devices based on physical keys. A user and a user device are determined. The user device is authenticated based on a login sequence, smartcard or the like. A physical key associated with the user is physically associated with a generic device by insertion, wireless link, proximity, RFID detection and the like. The dynamic association is communicated over a first communications channel. A user device confirms the dynamic association over a second communications channel. The dynamically associated generic device communicates user interface events with the dynamic user interface proxy. The user device also communicates user interface events with the dynamic user interface proxy. The dynamic user interface proxy receives, optionally transforms and routes the user interface events associated with the user device and the generic device. The dynamic user interface proxy routes received user interface events to the respective devices based on the dynamic associations between a user, a user identifier and devices associated with the user's physical key. Inter-modal user interface events are optionally transformed by the dynamic user interface proxy based on internal and/or externally accessible transformation functions.