Apparatus and method for device security
An apparatus and method for device security, wherein a fingerprint image is acquired on a touchscreen, and an authentication process is performed based on the first fingerprint image. Thereafter, a second fingerprint image is acquired and a difference between a characteristic of the first and second fingerprint images is determined, and based upon whether this difference is greater than a threshold, a second authentication process is performed.
1. A method for authenticating, the method comprising:
acquiring a first fingerprint image at an area proximate a first location of contact on a touch-sensitive surface;
performing a first authentication process based on the first fingerprint image;
acquiring a second fingerprint image at an area proximate a second location of contact on the touch-sensitive surface;
determining a difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and a characteristic of the first fingerprint image; and
performing a second authentication process based upon whether the difference between the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is greater than a threshold.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a two-dimensional location.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is an energy level.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a timestamp.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image comprises performing a correlation function.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is based upon a security level.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising: determining the security level based upon an application currently running on the device.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising: determining the security level based upon a user selection.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image, from among a set of characteristics, based upon a security level.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining whether there has been a cessation of contact with a surface of a touch-sensitive device.
11. An apparatus for authenticating, the apparatus comprising:
a touch-sensitive surface;
a fingerprint sensor configured to acquire:
a) a first fingerprint image at an area proximate a first location of contact on the touch-sensitive surface and b) a second fingerprint image at an area proximate a second location of contact on the touch-sensitive surface;
one or more processors coupled to the fingerprint sensor and configured to:
perform a first authentication process based on the first fingerprint image;
determine a difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and a characteristic of the first fingerprint image; and
perform a second authentication process based upon whether the difference between the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is greater than a threshold.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a two-dimensional location.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is an energy level.
14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a timestamp.
15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is based upon a correlation function.
16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the threshold is based upon a security level.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the security level is based upon an application currently presenting a user interface.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the security level based upon a user selection.
19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image, from among a set of characteristics, based upon a security level.
20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine whether there has been a cessation of contact with a surface coupled to the fingerprint sensor.
21. An apparatus for authenticating, the apparatus comprising:
means for acquiring a first fingerprint image and a second fingerprint image;
means for performing an authentication process based on the first fingerprint image;
means for determining a difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and a characteristic of the first fingerprint image; and
means for performing a second authentication process based upon whether the difference between the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is greater than a threshold.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a two-dimensional location.
23. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is an energy level.
24. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is a timestamp.
25. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is based upon a correlation function.
26. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising: means for determining the characteristic of the second fingerprint image and the characteristic of the first fingerprint image, from among a set of characteristics, based upon a security level.
27. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising: means for determining whether there has been a cessation of contact with a surface of a touch-sensitive device.
28. A non-transitory computer readable medium, having software stored thereon, the software including instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause a device to perform one or more operations comprising:
acquiring a first fingerprint image at an area proximate a first location of contact on a touch-sensitive surface;
performing an authentication process based on the first fingerprint image;
acquiring a second fingerprint image at an area proximate a second location of contact on a touch-sensitive surface;
determining a difference between a characteristic of the second fingerprint image and a characteristic of the first fingerprint image; and
performing a second authentication process based upon whether the difference between the characteristic of the second fingerprint image the characteristic of the first fingerprint image is greater than a threshold.
29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28 , wherein the one or more operations further comprises:
determining whether there has been a cessation of contact with a surface of a touch-sensitive device.