IP Library Granted Patent US 11,115,213
Granted Patent B1
US 11,115,213 · App. 16/774,695 · Granted Sep 7, 2021

Thwarting one-time password theft

Inventor: Venkadesan Marimuthu (Chennai, IN)
Assignee: NORTONLIFELOCK INC.
H04L9/3228G06F21/42H04L9/0825H04L63/0838H04L2463/082
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,115,213
App. No.
16/774,695
Granted
Sep 7, 2021
Kind
B1
Abstract

Thwarting one-time password (OTP) theft. In one embodiment, a method may include receiving, at a messaging application executing on the mobile device, a text message from a website that includes an original OTP. The method may also include encrypting, by the messaging application, the original OTP included in the text message to thwart theft of the original OTP from the text message.

Claims (46)

1. A computer-implemented method for thwarting one-time password (OTP) theft, at least a portion of the method being performed by a mobile device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

receiving, at a messaging application executing on the mobile device, a text message from a website that includes an original OTP;

encrypting, by the messaging application, the original OTP included in the text message to thwart theft of the original OTP from the text message;

storing, by the messaging application, the text message including the encrypted OTP;

detecting, at an OTP plugin application, entry of the encrypted OTP into the website loaded into a browser application;

decrypting, by the OTP plugin application, the encrypted OTP to reveal the original OTP; and

replacing, by the OTP plugin application, the encrypted OTP with the original OTP prior to submission of the original OTP to the website.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the messaging application is a custom messaging application configured to handle all incoming text messages received at the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypting of the original OTP comprises encrypting the original OTP with a format preserving encryption algorithm.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the format preserving encryption algorithm is configured to cause the encrypted OTP to have the same number of characters as the original OTP.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypting of the original OTP comprises:

generating, by the messaging application, an asymmetric key pair including a private key and a public key;

storing, at the mobile device, the private key;

sending, from the messaging application to the OTP plugin application, the public key;

generating, by the OTP plugin application, an original session key;

encrypting, by the OTP plugin application, the original session key using the public key;

sending, from the OTP plugin application to the messaging application, the encrypted session key;

decrypting, by the messaging application, the encrypted session key using the stored private key to reveal the original session key; and

encrypting, by the messaging application, the original OTP using the original session key.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the public key and the encrypted session key are sent via a first server that is different from a second server that hosts the website.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacing of the encrypted OTP with the original OTP comprises automatically filling in a form field of the website, into which the encrypted OTP was entered, with the original OTP.

8. A computer-implemented method for thwarting one-time password (OTP) theft, at least a portion of the method being performed by a mobile device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

receiving, at a messaging application executing on the mobile device, a text message from a website that includes an original OTP;

upon receipt of the text message at the messaging application, automatically encrypting, by the messaging application, the original OTP included in the text message, with a format preserving encryption algorithm, to thwart theft of the original OTP from the text message;

storing, by the messaging application, the text message including the encrypted OTP; and

displaying, by the messaging application, the text message with the encrypted OTP being visible.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the messaging application is a custom messaging application configured to handle all incoming text messages received at the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the format preserving encryption algorithm is configured to cause the encrypted OTP to have the same number of characters as the original OTP.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the encrypting of the original OTP comprises:

generating, by the messaging application, an asymmetric key pair including a private key and a public key;

storing, at the mobile device, the private key;

sharing, by the messaging application, the public key;

receiving, at the messaging application, an encrypted session key that was encrypted using the public key;

decrypting, by the messaging application, the encrypted session key using the stored private key to reveal an original session key; and

encrypting, by the messaging application, the original OTP using the original session key.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the public key and the encrypted session key are sent via a first server that is different from a second server that hosts the website.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the text message is a Short Message Service (SMS) text message.

14. A computer-implemented method for thwarting one-time password (OTP) theft, at least a portion of the method being performed by a network device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

detecting, at an OTP plugin application executing on the network device, entry of an encrypted OTP into a website loaded into a browser application executing on the network device;

decrypting, by the OTP plugin application, the encrypted OTP to reveal an original OTP; and

replacing, by the OTP plugin application, the encrypted OTP with the original OTP prior to submission of the original OTP to the website.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the encrypted OTP was encrypted with a format preserving encryption algorithm.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the format preserving encryption algorithm is configured to cause the encrypted OTP to have the same number of characters as the original OTP.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the encrypted OTP was encrypted using a session key that was generated by the OTP plugin application.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the replacing of the encrypted OTP with the original OTP comprises automatically filling in a form field of the website, into which the encrypted OTP was entered, with the original OTP.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the network device is a mobile device at which a text message from the website that includes the original OTP is received.

Assignments (4)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 18, 2023
From: NORTONLIFELOCK INC.
To: GEN DIGITAL INC.
Reel/Frame 063697/0493 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 13, 2022
From: NORTONLIFELOCK INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 062220/0001 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Mar 5, 2020
From: SYMANTEC CORPORATION
To: NORTONLIFELOCK INC.
Reel/Frame 052109/0186 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 28, 2020
From: MARIMUTHU, VENKADESAN
To: NORTONLIFELOCK INC.
Reel/Frame 051645/0289 →
Cited By (2)
US 12,199,975 US 12,323,416