Wireless communications access security
A computer implemented method for wireless communications access security, the method comprising: measuring at least one parameter during a wireless communication with an active access point, calculating at least one indicator from the measured parameter(s), and determining a threat indication by applying a threat evaluation function on the calculated indicator(s).
1. A computer implemented method for wireless communications access security, the method comprising steps a computer processor of a client device is programmed to perform, the steps comprising:
receiving a threat evaluation function from a server computer;
measuring at least one parameter during a wireless communication with an active access point;
calculating at least one indicator, each one of the indicators being calculated from at least one of the measured parameters; and
determining a threat indication for the active access point by applying the threat evaluation function on the calculated indicators, wherein the threat evaluation function is derived by the server computer from at least one parameter set received by the server computer from each one of a plurality of client devices, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the client device that the parameter set is received from and the access point.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving at least one reference set of values from the server computer, each one of the received reference sets pertaining to a respective access point, wherein said calculating of at least one of the indicators is further based on at least one value received in the reference set pertaining to the active access point.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising restricting the communication with the active access point according to the determined threat indication.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining time based historic data reflecting a change in value of at least one of the measured parameters over time, wherein said calculating of the indicators is further based on the maintained time based historic data.
5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising a preliminary step of sending data indicating location of the client device to the server computer, wherein at least one of the received reference sets is a set of at least one reference value selected by the server computer at least according to the indicated location.
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the reference sets is a set of at least one reference value selected by the server computer at least according to time.
7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising a preliminary step of sending data indicating location of the client device to the server computer, wherein at least one of the reference sets is a set of at least one reference value selected by the server computer at least according to both time and the indicated location.
8. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving from the server computer a list of threat indications determined by at least one neighboring client device.
9. The method of claim 2 , wherein each one of the reference sets is a set of reference values derived by the server computer from a plurality of parameters measured by a plurality of client devices during wireless communication with the respective access point.
10. An apparatus for wireless communications access security, the apparatus comprising:
a computer processor of a client device;
a function receiver, implemented on said computer processor, configured to receive a threat evaluation function from a server computer;
a parameter measurer, implemented on said computer processor, configured to measure at least one parameter during a wireless communication of the client device with an active access point;
an indicator calculator, implemented on said computer processor, in communication with said function receiver and said parameter measurer, configured to calculate at least one indicator, each one of the indicators being calculated from at least one of the measured parameters; and
a threat determiner, implemented on said computer processor, in communication with said indicator calculator, configured to determine a threat indication for the active access point by applying the received threat evaluation function on the calculated indicators, wherein the threat evaluation function is derived by the server computer from at least one parameter set received by the server computer from each one of a plurality of client devices, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the client device that the parameter set is received from and the access point.
11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer processor executable instructions for performing steps of wireless communications access security on a client device, the steps comprising:
receiving a threat evaluation function from a server computer;
measuring at least one parameter during a wireless communication with an active access point;
calculating at least one indicator, each one of the indicators being calculated from at least one of the measured parameters; and
determining a threat indication for the active access point by applying the threat evaluation function on the calculated indicators, wherein the threat evaluation function is derived by the server computer from at least one parameter set received by the server computer from each one of a plurality of client devices, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the client device that the parameter set is received from and the access point.
12. A computer implemented method for wireless communications access security, the method comprising steps a server computer is programmed to perform, the steps comprising:
from each one of a plurality of client devices, receiving at least one parameter set, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the client device and the access point;
deriving a threat evaluation function from the parameter sets received from the client devices; and
providing the derived threat evaluation function to a client device in communication with the server computer.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising deriving a reference set of values for each respective one of the access points from the received parameter sets pertaining to the access point, and providing at least one of the derived reference sets to the client device in communication with the server computer.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
from at least one of the plurality of client devices, receiving at least one indicator set, each one of the indicator sets pertaining to a respective one of the access points and comprising at least one indicator calculated by the client device from at least one parameter measured by the client device during a wireless communication with the access point; and
deriving the threat evaluation function from the received indicator sets and the received parameter sets.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a step of selecting at least one of the values in the derived reference set for said providing, according to location of the client device in communication with the server computer.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a step of selecting at least one of the values in the derived reference set for said providing, according to time.
17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a step of selecting at least one of the values in the derived reference set for said providing, according to both time and location of the client device in communication with the server computer and time.
18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising sending to the client device in communication with the server computer a list of threat indications determined by at least one neighboring client device.
19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising maintaining global data mapping a plurality of reference values by time, location and access point, wherein at least one of the reference sets provided to the client device in communication with the server computer is based on a sub-portion of the maintained global data.
20. An apparatus for wireless communications access security, the apparatus comprising:
a computer processor of a server computer;
a parameter receiver, implemented on said computer processor, configured to receive from each one of a plurality of client devices, at least one parameter set, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the access point and the client device;
a function deriver, implemented on said computer processor, in communication with said parameter receiver, configured to derive a threat evaluation function from the parameter sets received from the client devices; and
a function provider, implemented on said computer processor, in communication with said function deriver, configured to provide the derived threat evaluation function to a client device in communication with the server computer.
21. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer processor executable instructions for performing steps of wireless communications access security on a server computer, the steps comprising:
from each one of a plurality of client devices, receiving at least one parameter set, each parameter set pertaining to a respective access point and comprising at least one parameter measured during a wireless communication between the client device and the access point;
deriving a threat evaluation function from the parameter sets received from the client devices; and
providing the derived threat evaluation function to a client device in communication with the server computer.