Biometric methods for online user authentication
Methods for authenticating a genuine presence of a human involve directing one or more modulated probes towards a body part of the human, receiving a response to the probes from the body part, and analyzing the response to determine whether it contains spectral characteristics that match a class of responses to such probes for the human body part in a human population. Replay attacks are countered by varying the modulation of the probe temporally, spatially, and spectrally each time authentication is performed. The probes may include electromagnetic radiation, acoustic beams, or particle beams that generate a detected reflection, absorption pattern, scintillation, or fluorescence response of the body part. The analysis of the response may be directed to one or more of temporal, spatial, and spectral variations in accordance with the nature of the probes and the modulation.
1 . A method of authenticating a genuine presence of a user, the method comprising:
generating an electromagnetic probe;
modulating the electromagnetic probe according to a pattern, wherein the pattern is not duplicated when performing a succeeding authentication of the user using the electromagnetic probe;
generating an ultrasonic probe;
directing the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe towards a body part of the user;
receiving responses of the body part to the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe;
sending data representing the responses of the body part to a digital data processor; and
at a digital data processor, analyzing the data representing the responses of the body part and authenticating the user if the analysis indicates that:
the data representing the response to the electromagnetic probe includes a modulation consistent with the pattern used to modulate the electromagnetic probe and a spatial distribution consistent with reflection from the body part; and
the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with a reflection from the body part.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic probe is modulated and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is consistent with the modulation of the ultrasonic probe.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein video imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with changes in the captured video imagery of the body part.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is spatially consistent with features in the captured imagery of the body part.
5 . A mobile device comprising:
a CPU; and
a non-transitory memory storing instructions for execution by the CPU, wherein execution of the instructions on the CPU implements a method of authenticating a genuine presence of a user, the method comprising:
generating an electromagnetic probe;
modulating the electromagnetic probe according to a pattern, wherein the pattern is not duplicated when performing a succeeding authentication of the user using the electromagnetic probe;
generating an ultrasonic probe;
directing the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe towards a body part of the user;
receiving responses of the body part to the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe;
sending data representing the responses of the body part to a digital data processor; and
at a digital data processor, analyzing the data representing the responses of the body part and authenticating the user if the analysis indicates that:
the data representing the response to the electromagnetic probe includes a modulation consistent with the pattern used to modulate the electromagnetic probe and a spatial distribution consistent with reflection from the body part; and
the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with a reflection from the body part.
6 . The mobile device of claim 5 , wherein the ultrasonic probe is modulated and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is consistent with the modulation of the ultrasonic probe.
7 . The mobile device of claim 5 , wherein video imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with changes in the captured video imagery of the body part.
8 . The mobile device of claim 5 , wherein imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is spatially consistent with features in the captured imagery of the body part.
9 . An application for a mobile device comprising:
instructions for execution on a CPU of a mobile device, the instructions being stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage, wherein the instructions, when processed on the CPU of the mobile device, instruct the mobile device to perform a method of authenticating a genuine presence of a user, the method comprising:
generating an electromagnetic probe;
modulating the electromagnetic probe according to a pattern, wherein the pattern is not duplicated when performing a succeeding authentication of the user using the electromagnetic probe;
generating an ultrasonic probe;
directing the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe towards a body part of the user;
receiving responses of the body part to the modulated electromagnetic probe and the ultrasonic probe;
sending data representing the responses of the body part to a digital data processor; and
at a digital data processor, analyzing the data representing the responses of the body part and authenticating the user if the analysis indicates that:
the data representing the response to the electromagnetic probe includes a modulation consistent with the pattern used to modulate the electromagnetic probe and a spatial distribution consistent with reflection from the body part; and
the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with a reflection from the body part.
10 . The application for a mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the ultrasonic probe is modulated and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is consistent with the modulation of the ultrasonic probe.
11 . The application for a mobile device of claim 9 , wherein video imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is temporally consistent with changes in the captured video imagery of the body part.
12 . The application for a mobile device of claim 9 , wherein imagery of the body part is captured and the data representing the response from the ultrasound probe is spatially consistent with features in the captured imagery of the body part.