System and method for registering a mobile subscriber for authentication

1. A method of executing computer instructions on at least one device in which the at least one device includes at least one processor and at least one memory, comprising:

fetching computer instructions from the at least one memory of the at least one device for execution on the at least one processor of the at least one device;

executing the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device; and

storing in the at least one memory of the at least one device any results of having executed the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device;

wherein the computer instructions to be executed comprise instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber that include instructions to register the mobile subscriber;

wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber further comprises:

receiving a mobile telephone number for a mobile subscriber of a mobile provider;

registering the mobile subscriber as part of the authentication of the mobile subscriber, wherein the registering the mobile subscriber comprises:

querying the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) of the mobile subscriber at the time of registration; and

creating an authentication database in which a database entry in the at least one memory comprises at least: a merchant identifier, the received mobile telephone number for the mobile subscriber; and the IMSI;

wherein the database entry is to be employed in the authentication of the mobile subscriber by a query to the mobile service provider and a comparison of the IMSI at the time of registration with an IMSI at the time of the authentication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: executing one or more queries to the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for the IMSI.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: receiving a merchant identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the IMSI identifying a cellular mobile subscriber account of the mobile subscriber on a cellular telephone network.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the IMSI identifying a cellular mobile subscriber account of the mobile subscriber on a cellular telephone network also identifying a cellular telephone network that is able to operate in accordance with GSM or CDMA communication protocols.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: validating the mobile subscriber.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the validating including:

executing one or more queries to the mobile service provider for the mobile subscriber to obtain a current IMSI; and

comparing at least the IMSI from the created database entry and the current IMSI.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the validating including:

receiving a current merchant identifier or a current mobile telephone number for the mobile subscriber.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the validating including:

transmitting a challenge phrase to the mobile subscriber.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the IMSI identifying a SIM card of the mobile subscriber.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the merchant identifier and the mobile telephone number being from different sources.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the executing the fetched computer instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprises: the merchant identifier or the mobile telephone number for the mobile subscriber being received via electronic network communications.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the electronic network communications comprise communications via the Internet.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one device comprises a server.

15. An apparatus comprising: one or more computer systems to execute computer instructions on at least one device in which the at least one device includes at least one processor and at least one memory; the at least one device to fetch computer instructions from the at least one memory of the at least one device for execution on the at least one processor of the at least one device; the at least one device to execute the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device; and the at least one device to store in the at least one memory of the at least one device any results of having executed the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device; wherein the computer instructions to be executed comprise computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber that include instructions to register the mobile subscriber; the computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber further to:

receive a mobile telephone number for a mobile subscriber of a mobile service provider;

register the mobile subscriber as part of the authentication of the mobile subscriber, wherein the instructions to register the mobile subscriber further to:

query the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) of the mobile subscriber at the time of registration; and

create an authentication database in which a database entry in the at least one memory comprises at least: a to be received merchant identifier, the to be received mobile telephone number for the mobile subscriber; and the IMSI;

wherein the database entry is to be employed in the authentication of the mobile subscriber by a query to the mobile subscriber provider and a comparison of the IMSI at the time of registration with an IMSI at the time of the authentication.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber further comprise computer instructions to query the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for the IMSI.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , the IMSI to comprise an identifier of the cellular telephone of the mobile subscriber.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , the cellular telephone to comprise a GSM cellular telephone or a CDMA cellular telephone.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise instructions to authenticate the mobile subscriber further comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise computer instructions to:

query a mobile service provider for the mobile subscriber to obtain a current IMSI; and

compare at least the IMSI from the created database entry and the current IMSI.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise computer instructions to:

compare at least the IMSI from the created database entry and the current IMSI to be received via one or more queries.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise computer instructions to: transmit a challenge phrase to the mobile subscriber.

23. The apparatus of claim 15 , the IMSI to comprise an identifier of the SIM card of the mobile subscriber.

24. The apparatus of claim 15 , the computer systems to comprise servers.

25. An article comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions executable on at least one device in which the at least one device includes at least one processor and at least one memory; the at least one device to fetch the computer instructions from the at least one memory of the at least one device for execution on the at least one processor of the at least one device; the at least one device to execute the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device; and the at least one device to store in the at least one memory of the at least one device any results of having executed the fetched computer instructions on the at least one processor of the at least one device; wherein the computer instructions to be executed comprise instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber that include instructions to register the mobile subscriber, the computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber further to:

receive a mobile telephone number for a mobile subscriber of a mobile service provider;

register the mobile subscriber as part of the authentication of the mobile subscriber, wherein the instructions to register the mobile subscriber further to:

query the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) of the mobile subscriber at the time of registration; and

create an authentication database in which a database entry in the at least one memory comprises at least: a to be received merchant identifier, the to be received mobile telephone number for the mobile subscriber; and the IMSI;

wherein the database entry is to be employed in the authentication of the mobile subscriber by a query to the mobile subscriber provider and a comparison of the IMSI at the time of registration with an IMSI at the time of the authentication.

26. The article of claim 25 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to authenticate a mobile subscriber further comprise computer instructions to query the mobile service provider of the mobile subscriber for the IMSI.

27. The article of claim 25 , wherein the IMSI to comprise an identifier of the cellular telephone of the mobile subscriber.

28. The article of claim 27 , wherein the cellular telephone to comprise a GSM cellular telephone or a CDMA cellular telephone.

29. The article of claim 25 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise instructions to validate the mobile subscriber.

30. The article of claim 29 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise instructions to:

query a mobile service provider for the mobile subscriber to obtain a current IMSI; and

compare at least the IMSI from the created database entry and the current IMSI.

31. The article of claim 29 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise computer instruction to: compare at least the IMSI from the created database entry and the current IMSI to be received via one or more queries.

32. The article of claim 29 , wherein the computer instructions to be executed that comprise computer instructions to validate the mobile subscriber, further comprise computer instructions to: transmit a challenge phrase to the mobile subscriber.

33. The article of claim 25 , wherein the IMSI to comprise an identifier of a SIM card of the mobile subscriber.

34. The article of claim 25 , wherein the at least one device to comprise a server.