Secure Account Creation Using Signed Configuration Files
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Solution Overview
Problem
Online application stores and media stores face security risks due to vulnerabilities in security systems, including potential coercion of users to compromise system security and automated exploits creating fraudulent accounts, which can lead to fraudulent activity and data theft.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a trusted two-way communication session for account creation using a cryptographically signed configuration file, opaque server security tokens, and anti-automation heuristics to verify user actions and detect automated account creation, ensuring secure account creation, authentication, and purchase processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If secure communications protocols are used between online store and electronic devices, then communication security is improved, but vulnerabilities still exist if security system elements are disabled or compromised by user action or system malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The system preemptively detects and responds to potential security compromises before they can be exploited. Security monitoring mechanisms are established in advance to identify when security elements are disabled or compromised, allowing the system to take corrective action before vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary security components that mediate between the secure communication protocols and the underlying system elements. These intermediaries provide an additional layer of protection that can detect and respond to compromises without requiring changes to the core communication protocols or system elements.
2Ease of operation
If users are coerced into intentionally compromising system security, then system security is worsened, but this enables access control and authentication mechanisms to function
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback mechanisms that monitor user actions and system state for signs of coercion or compromise. When anomalies are detected, the system can respond by alerting security personnel, blocking suspicious activities, or requiring additional authentication, thereby maintaining security even when users are under duress.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes preliminary security measures and monitoring systems that are in place before coercion can occur. These pre-configured security mechanisms are designed to detect and respond to coerced user actions, preventing security compromises before they can be exploited.
3Productivity
If automated exploits are used to rapidly create and configure online application store accounts, then account creation speed is improved, but fraudulent activity and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements real-time feedback mechanisms that monitor account creation patterns and automatically respond to suspicious activities. When automated exploitation is detected through anomaly analysis, the system can dynamically adjust security measures, require additional verification steps, or block account creation attempts, thereby preventing fraudulent activity while allowing legitimate rapid account creation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic security measures that adapt to the detected behavior patterns. Security controls are not static but change in response to real-time analysis of account creation activities, allowing the system to maintain high productivity for legitimate users while automatically increasing security barriers for potential fraudsters.
4Reliability
If cryptographically signed messages and anti-automation measures are implemented, then security against fraudulent activity is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service security mechanisms where the cryptographic verification and anti-automation detection are performed automatically by the system itself without requiring manual intervention. The security infrastructure manages its own verification processes, reducing the operational complexity despite the increased technical sophistication of the security measures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent integrates multiple security functions into unified components that perform both cryptographic verification and anti-automation detection simultaneously. By combining these functions into multi-functional security modules, the system reduces overall complexity compared to implementing separate independent security systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions for establishing a trusted two-way communications session for account creation for an online store, which include instructions for causing a processor to perform operations comprising retrieving and verifying a signed configuration file from a server, requesting a communication session using the configuration file, receiving a payload of account creation forms from a network client, signing the payload according to the server configuration file, and sending the signed payload containing account creation information to the server. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises analyzing timestamps for requests for data forms for supplying account creation information for evidence of automated account creation activity and rejecting the request for the locator of the second account creation form if evidence of automated account creation activity is detected. Methods for secure account authentication and asset purchase are also disclosed.