Watermark Verification for Secure E-Commerce Transactions

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current e-commerce security methods, such as cryptography and personalized devices, face challenges in ensuring message integrity and user verification due to vulnerabilities like man-in-the-middle attacks and inconvenient user interfaces, particularly in verifying transaction details on small devices.

Innovation Solution

A system that uses a computer server to store and manage watermarks, providing verification data to establish trusted communication paths and display indications of these watermarks to users, ensuring tamper-proof transaction verification through separate communication paths and user authentication.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If cryptography and personalized devices are used for transaction security, then message integrity and privacy are improved, but user verification becomes difficult due to small display areas and inconvenient interfaces

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage integrityVSAvoiduser verification
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system divides the verification process into two separate communication paths: one for transmitting transaction data and another for displaying watermark verification. This segmentation allows the complex verification task to be broken down into manageable components, with the watermark serving as a simplified verification indicator that is easy for users to understand and verify.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The watermark acts as an intermediary element between the transaction data and the user verification process. Instead of requiring users to directly verify complex cryptographic data, the watermark serves as a visual mediator that represents the integrity of the transaction, making verification accessible and convenient for end users.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If all activities are contained within a personalized device, then transaction security is improved, but device complexity and limitations in verifying entire documents become problematic

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetransaction securityVSAvoidverification capability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system adds a new dimension to the verification process by introducing visual watermark display as a separate channel from the traditional document verification process. This dimensional addition allows users to verify transaction integrity through a simplified visual indicator rather than examining the entire document, reducing the complexity burden on the personalized device.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If separate communication paths are used for verification data, then protection against man-in-the-middle attacks is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveman-in-the-middle attacksVSAvoidcommunication paths
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The verification data and watermark information are extracted from the main transaction data transmission path and conveyed through a separate, dedicated communication path. This extraction isolates the verification process from potential interception points, making it more difficult for man-in-the-middle attackers to manipulate the verification integrity without affecting the actual transaction execution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP2176986B8Method of providing assured transactions by watermarked file display verification
Publication Date: 2016.09.14 DATA LOCKER INC

AI summary

Electronic transactions employing prior art approaches of digital certificates and authentification are subject to attacks resulting in fraudulent transactions and abuse of identity information. Disclosed is a method of improving electronic security by establishing a secure trusted path between a user and an institution seeking an electronic signature to verify a transaction before any request for signature and completing electronic transaction activities occurs. The secure trusted path providing the user with a predetermined portion of the request from the institution for a signature upon a personalized device that cannot be intercepted or manipulated by malware to verify that the request as displayed upon the user's primary computing device is valid.