Mobile App Content Validation via Server-Side Checksums
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for delivering content to mobile devices are limited by the need for an active wireless network connection and lack secure validation of content integrity, making them insecure and unreliable for content delivery.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a server to generate and store validation information, such as checksums or hash values, for content received from providers, allowing mobile devices to securely retrieve and validate content without an active network connection by using encryption and secret keys to ensure content integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If content is delivered through web links requiring wireless network connection, then content accessibility is achieved, but security and content validation are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation of content by generating checksums or hash values before content is stored in the mobile device database. This preliminary action ensures content integrity is established in advance, allowing the mobile device to verify content validity later without requiring network connection during playback.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces validation information (checksums/hash values) as an intermediary between the content provider and the mobile device. This intermediary mechanism enables secure content delivery and validation without requiring direct network connection during content access, resolving the contradiction between reliability and security.
2Ease of operation
If content is accessed through web browser with active network connection, then content retrieval is enabled, but data plan usage increases and security is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Content is downloaded and stored in the mobile device database during periods when network connection is available, before the user needs to access it. This preliminary action allows the user to access content offline without consuming additional data plan resources, while the validation information is also cached to enable subsequent verification without network connection.
3Reliability
If validation information is stored with content, then content integrity is ensured, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The validation information is stored locally in the mobile device database alongside the content, enabling content integrity verification without requiring continuous network connection. This local storage approach ensures that even when offline, the device can verify content validity using the cached validation information, resolving the contradiction between integrity validation and storage requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes transmitting a request to a server from a mobile device. The request may be initiated by an application executing on the mobile device. The method includes receiving a message at the mobile device from the server. The message may include first validation information and information indicating a location where the mobile device can retrieve content. The method includes retrieving the content from the location indicated in the message, and generating second validation information based on the retrieved content. The method includes validating the content based on a comparison of the first validation information and the second validation information. The method includes selectively storing the content based on whether the validation of the content indicates the content is valid. The content may be stored for subsequent publication at the mobile device via the application. The content may be published while the mobile device is offline.