Mobile device resistant to malware
View Patent ↗A mobile device is made resistant to malware. Wireless mobile devices are paired with short-distance wireless technology to separate user gadgets like keyfobs. Two or more pieces of security passwords are escrowed separately amongst the physically distinct devices. Neither the mobile device nor its matching keyfob store or keep entire passwords.
1. A mobile device combination that provides user access to a secure service, comprising:
a mobile device capable of wireless network access of a user's financial payment website, but lacking in having all the hardware resources necessary for logging onto a user's financial payment website or use in a merchant checkout;
a mobile app with a password manager installed in and that is executed by the mobile device to supply a password in a character string as if from a user responding with a keyboard entry;
a personal item not physically attached to or made a part of the mobile device, wherein the personal item includes at least one of a keyfob, a wristwatch, a bracelet, or a pocket device;
a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transceiver disposed in the personal item and that when triggered by a user pushbutton on the personal item establishes a wireless link between the mobile device and the personal item if they are within range of one another, and that pushes whole passwords in cleartext if so triggered back over an encrypted BLE wireless channel, then over a 4G, Wi-Fi, or other wireless connection to a selected one of several different mobile app login dialogs on the Internet;
a non-volatile internal flash memory disposed in the personal item and in which are stored encrypted password parts in escrow that are necessary for logging onto the user's financial payment website or the merchant checkout;
a keyboard human interface device playback queue disposed in the personal item and in which are stored scancodes for each keystroke comprising a password in cleartext ready for transmission via a wireless link to the mobile device and then to the user's financial payment website or the merchant checkout;
an encryption/decryption process implemented within the mobile app and executable by only the mobile device and that controls all password encryption and decryption, escrowing of encrypted passwords into parts, recombining the parts, and coordinating encrypted data passing through a BLE wireless channel;
wherein, commands issued via the BLE paired channel instruct data to be stored or retrieved from the non-volatile internal flash memory;
wherein, only insufficient parts of encrypted passwords are stored on the personal item;
wherein the personal item lacks any independent encryption or decryption capability;
wherein, the wireless link to the mobile device has limited range and any separation of the mobile device from the personal item exceeding the limited range prevents the password manager mobile app from successfully accessing the user's financial payment website or the merchant checkout by denying it the stored encrypted password parts maintained in the personal item; and
wherein, the times and places the mobile device is vulnerable to a malicious mobile app are thereby constrained.
2. The mobile device combination of claim 1 , further comprising:
a securely encrypted BLE connection between the personal item and the mobile device, wherein, such connection is negotiated during an initial pairing process, and such pairing is maintained for every future connection;
and a series of human interface device scancodes derived from confidential and sensitive data and that are transmitted individually as a password for authentication of a login.