METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING AND MANAGING AN ENTERPRISE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT FOR DISTRIBUTED SECURITY IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM
A method and system for facilitating the management of user identities includes an ownership component, a registration component, and a servicing component. When a user first desires to access a system using the present invention, the registration component verifies the user's ownership of the underlying account by asking a variety of questions. Thereafter, when a user desires to service his account, the user may be re-queried to determine if he is attempting to access the correct information. An authentication and access component provides the functionality to access a system of the present invention. An audit component can be configured to periodically monitor the various accounts to ensure a continued linking between users and accounts.
1 . A method comprising:
assigning, by a computer-based system for identity management, a positive weight to a successful transaction initiated by an identity associated with an account;
assigning, by the computer-based system, a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction initiated by the identity associated with the account;
determining, by the computer-based system, a likelihood that the identity owns the account based upon the positive weight and the negative weight;
posing, by the computer-based system, a question to a user at least one of periodically and in response to assigning a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction to verify that the user is the owner of the identity.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising aggregating, by the computer-based system, a plurality of positive weights and a plurality of negative weights to determine a usage history of a user.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining a likelihood further comprises converting, by the computer-based system, the positive weight and the negative weight to a probability score.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the question is at least one of: a question about a previous transaction, a question about a location associated with the owner of the identity, a question about an activity in which the owner of the identity was previously engaged, and a question about a different associated account.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising allowing, by the computer-based system, the identity to access a first account in a hierarchy of accounts based upon a probability score that is lower than a probability score required to access a second account in the hierarchy of accounts.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising allowing, by the computer-based system, the identity to access the account based upon a probability score.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising facilitating, by the computer-based system, periodic confirmation of at least one of: identity information from a user and ownership information from the user.
8 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system for identity management, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising:
assigning, by the computer-based system, a positive weight to a successful transaction initiated by an identity associated with an account;
assigning, by the computer-based system, a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction initiated by the identity associated with the account;
determining, by the computer-based system, a likelihood that the identity owns the account based upon the positive weight and the negative weight;
posing, by the computer-based system, a question to a user at least one of periodically and in response to assigning a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction to verify that the user is the owner of the identity.
9 . The article of claim 8 , further comprising aggregating, by the computer-based system, a plurality of positive weights and a plurality of negative weights to determine a usage history of a user.
10 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the determining a likelihood further comprises converting, by the computer-based system, the positive weight and the negative weight to a probability score.
11 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the question is at least one of: a question about a previous transaction, a question about a location associated with the owner of the identity, a question about an activity in which the owner of the identity was previously engaged, and a question about a different associated account.
12 . The article of claim 8 , further comprising allowing, by the computer-based system, the identity to access a first account in a hierarchy of accounts based upon a probability score that is lower than a probability score required to access a second account in the hierarchy of accounts.
13 . The article of claim 8 , allowing, by the computer-based system, the identity to access the account based upon a probability score.
14 . The article of claim 8 , further comprising facilitating, by the computer-based system, periodic confirmation of at least one of: identity information from a user and ownership information from the user.
15 . A system comprising:
a processor for identity management,
a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor,
the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
assigning, by the computer-based system, a positive weight to a successful transaction initiated by an identity associated with an account;
assigning, by the computer-based system, a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction initiated by the identity associated with the account;
determining, by the computer-based system, a likelihood that the identity owns the account based upon the positive weight and the negative weight;
posing, by the computer-based system, a question to a user at least one of periodically and in response to assigning a negative weight to an unsuccessful transaction to verify that the user is the owner of the identity
16 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising aggregating, by the processor, a plurality of positive weights and a plurality of negative weights to determine a usage history of a user.
17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the determining a likelihood further comprises converting, by the processor, the positive weight and the negative weight to a probability score.
18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the question is at least one of: a question about a previous transaction, a question about a location associated with the owner of the identity, a question about an activity in which the owner of the identity was previously engaged, and a question about a different associated account.
19 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising allowing, by the processor, the identity to access a first account in a hierarchy of accounts based upon a probability score that is lower than a probability score required to access a second account in the hierarchy of accounts.
20 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising allowing, by the processor, the identity to access the account based upon a probability score.