Trusted Caller ID Validation via Trust Authority
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Solution Overview
Problem
In VoIP systems, it is easy for callers to spoof their caller ID, making it difficult for recipients to distinguish between legitimate and undesirable calls, as the caller ID information is centrally maintained and can be freely edited without verification.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for validating the identity of a caller by registering entities with a trust authority, associating unique codes with caller IDs, and providing verification messages to ensure the legitimacy of caller IDs, which can include augmenting the caller ID with reserved characters or playing specific tones to indicate a validated identity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If caller ID information is centrally maintained on the PSTN and freely editable by VoIP callers, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to spoofing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trust authority as an intermediary between callers and the CNAM database. This trust authority verifies caller identities and issues digital certificates, preventing unauthorized spoofing while maintaining the centralized CNAM database structure. The intermediary layer adds verification without eliminating the ease of accessing caller ID information.
2Reliability
If caller ID verification is implemented through a trust authority, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses digital certificates as copies of identity verification. Instead of complex continuous verification processes, the trust authority creates certificate copies that can be stored and presented by callers. These certificate copies serve as proof of identity without requiring the entire verification system to be active during each call.
3Measurement precision
If unique codes are associated with CNAM and verified against identifiers, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of information increases due to additional verification data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the verification data (unique codes and digital certificates) from the main CNAM database into a separate trust authority system. This extraction allows precise matching of caller identifiers with verified identities while keeping the primary CNAM database simple and focused on name-to-number mapping.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for providing trusted caller identification services between a first entity and a second entity are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method for validating an identity of a first entity to the second entity may include registering the first entity with a trust authority, wherein registering the first entity includes authenticating the identity of the first entity, and associating the unique code with a caller ID name (CNAM) of the first entity, receiving an identifier in association with a call request, determining that the identifier is correlated with the unique code, and providing to the second entity the CNAM together with an indication of validity.