Method of providing transactions employing advertising based verification
View Patent ↗A method of improving electronic security establishes 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 first predetermined portion of a branded watermark, for instance an advertisement, provided from the institution in conjunction with the request, and a second predetermined portion of the branded watermark being provided upon a personalized device that cannot be intercepted or manipulated by malware, allowing the user to verify that the request as displayed upon the user's primary computing device is valid.
1. A method comprising:
embedding, by a server, a watermark in a transaction document relating to a transaction, wherein the watermark is based on an advertisement selected from a group of advertisements provided by an advertiser and relating to the transaction;
transmitting, by the server, the transaction document to a computer configured to display the transaction document as a first validation request, wherein an image of the transaction document displayed on the computer includes the selected advertisement and a logo of the advertiser providing the advertisement;
transmitting, by the server, an indication of the watermark to a security module configured to display the indication of the watermark as a second validation request, the second validation request including the logo, such that the indication displayed on the security module mirrors the logo of the advertiser on the computer;
requesting, by the server, a digital signature from a user of the computer;
in response to requesting the digital signature, receiving, by the server, a fingerprint from the security module;
authorizing, by the server, the digital signature, based on the fingerprint; and
completing, by the server, the transaction based on the transaction document.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein completing the transaction follows authorizing the digital signature.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising issuing a certificate to the security module, wherein the certificate comprises a public key.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising establishing a trusted path to the secure module, based on the public key.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein establishing the trusted path comprises receiving a password from the security module in response to issuing the certificate.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein establishing the trusted path comprises receiving a fingerprint from the security module in response to issuing the certificate.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second validation request comprises a logo of an advertiser providing the selected advertisement.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second validation request comprises an element of the selected advertisement as represented in the first validation request.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security module comprises a device selected from a group consisting of a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone, and a peripheral memory storage device.
10. A system comprising
a computer configured to request a transaction document relating to a requested transaction, receive the transaction document based on the requested transaction, and display the transaction document as a first validation request on the computer, the document having a watermark embedded therein;
wherein the watermark is based on an advertisement selected from a group of advertisements provided by an advertiser and relating to the transaction; and
wherein an image of the transaction document displayed on the computer includes the selected advertisement and a logo of the advertiser providing the advertisement; and
a security module configured to receive an indication of the watermark, display the indication of the watermark as a second validation request, and transmit a digital signature for authorizing and completing the transaction in response to user correlation of the first and second validation requests;
wherein the second validation request includes the logo, such that the indication displayed on the security module mirrors the logo of the advertiser on the computer.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the security module is configured to verify a user identify by providing a fingerprint.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the security module is configured to initiate issuance of the digital signature by providing a fingerprint.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the security module comprises a mobile phone or personal digital assistant.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the security module comprise a peripheral memory storage device.
15. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a peer-to-peer link for connecting the security module to the computer.
16. A transaction system comprising a processor and memory having executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processor cause the transaction system to perform a method comprising:
embedding a watermark in a transaction document relating to a transaction, wherein the watermark is based on a selected advertisement selected from a group of advertisements provided by an advertiser and relating to the transaction;
transmitting the transaction document to a computer configured to display the transaction document as a first validation request, wherein an image of the transaction document displayed on the computer includes the selected advertisement and a logo of the advertiser providing the advertisement;
transmitting an indication of the watermark to a security module configured to display the indication of the watermark as a second validation request, the second validation request including the logo, such that the indication displayed on the security module mirrors the logo of the advertiser on the computer;
requesting a digital signature from a user of the computer;
in response to requesting the digital signature, receiving a fingerprint from the security module;
authorizing the digital signature, based on the fingerprint; and
completing the transaction based on the transaction document.
17. The transaction system of claim 16 , where the transaction system completes the transaction based on authorizing the digital signature.
18. The transaction system of claim 16 , further comprising establishing a trusted path to the secure module, based on a public key.
19. The transaction system of claim 16 , wherein the second validation request comprises a logo of an advertiser providing the selected advertisement.