Software Authenticity Verification via Third-Party Token
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional software authentication methods fail to verify the authenticity of software applications, leading to potential security breaches when users inadvertently provide credentials to unauthorized or rogue applications, compromising the security of confidential information.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for verifying the authenticity of software applications by maintaining a set of application identifiers, generating and processing tokens to confirm whether an unverified application is registered with a third party, and providing a verification response to the user, ensuring the authenticity of the software application through an out-of-band verification process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional software authentication methods are used, then users can access confidential information, but users cannot verify the authenticity of software applications, leading to security breaches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third-party verification service as an intermediary between the software application and the user. This service maintains a database of authenticated application identifiers and provides verification tokens, allowing users to verify software authenticity without directly implementing complex verification logic in their own systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary authentication where software applications are pre-verified by a third party before deployment. The verification service pre-generates authentication tokens for legitimate applications and stores their identifiers in advance, enabling rapid verification at runtime without complex real-time analysis.
2Ease of operation
If users provide credentials to software applications without verification, then software functionality is accessible, but confidential information security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The verification token is generated and provided to the user in advance, before the user interacts with the software application. This preliminary provision of verification credentials allows users to quickly verify application authenticity without adding operational steps during actual software usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses token copying where the verification service generates an authentication token that can be copied and presented by the user to the software application. This copying mechanism simplifies the verification process while maintaining security, as the token serves as a portable proof of authenticity.
3Productivity
If software applications request user credentials directly, then authentication is efficient, but rogue applications can steal credentials without user knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The verification service acts as an intermediary that mediates between the user and the software application. Instead of the application directly requesting credentials from the user, the user first verifies the application through the intermediary service, which then facilitates secure credential exchange only after verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary anti-action by requiring users to verify application authenticity before providing any credentials. The verification token serves as a preemptive security measure that blocks credential theft by rogue applications, as users will not provide credentials to unverified applications.
Data Source
AI summary
Various techniques are provided for verifying the authenticity of software applications. Such techniques are particularly useful for verifying the authenticity of software applications used in online transactions involving users, payment service providers, and/or merchants. In one example, a set of application identifiers associated with a plurality of authenticated software applications are maintained and a verification request is received comprising an application identifier associated with an unverified software application. A token is generated in response to the verification request if the application identifier is in the set of application identifiers. The generated token is passed to the unverified software application. A user token is received and processed to determine whether the unverified software application is one of the authenticated software applications. A verification request is sent based on the processing. Additional methods and systems are also provided.