IP Library Granted Patent US 12,437,123
Granted Patent B2
US 12,437,123 · App. 17/905,543 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Data interception protection

Inventors: Jonathan Roscoe (London, GB); Max Smith-Creasey (London, GB)
Assignee: British Telecommunications Public Limited Company
G06F21/83G06F3/016G06F3/04886G06F21/60
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,437,123
App. No.
17/905,543
Granted
Oct 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A computer implemented method to protect data input to a user input device from detection, the device including an artificial haptic feedback mechanism arranged to generate an occurrence of haptic feedback for sensing by a user of the device in response to each input gesture on the device by the user, wherein at least a subset of each occurrence of haptic feedback is adjusted with respect to a previous occurrence of haptic feedback by one or more of: a timing of the haptic feedback with respect to a time of occurrence of a corresponding input gesture; an adjustment to a duration of haptic feedback relative to a duration of the previous occurrence of haptic feedback; and a generation of one or more addition occurrences of haptic feedback.

Claims (13)

1. A computer implemented method to protect data input to a user input device from detection, the user input device including an artificial haptic feedback mechanism arranged to generate an occurrence of haptic feedback for sensing by the user of the user input device in response to each input gesture on the user input device by the user, the method comprising:

adjusting at least a subset of each occurrence of haptic feedback with respect to a previous occurrence of haptic feedback by one or more of:

a timing of the haptic feedback with respect to a time of occurrence of a corresponding input gesture including one or more of: synchronizing the haptic feedback for an input gesture with a synchronization reference other than the input gesture itself, or adding a delay between the detection of the input gesture and the generation of the haptic feedback;

an adjustment to a duration of haptic feedback relative to a duration of the previous occurrence of haptic feedback including one or more of: a prolongation of the haptic feedback for a duration exceeding the previous occurrence of haptic feedback, or a reduction in a duration of the haptic feedback to a duration below the previous occurrence of the haptic feedback; and

a generation of one or more additional occurrences of haptic feedback.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user input device is a touchscreen device, each input gesture includes a swipe gesture for input of data via a soft keyboard, and the haptic feedback includes a vibration of the user input device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization reference is a linear time scale.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment of the haptic feedback is performed responsive to a determination that an occurrence of haptic feedback and a previous occurrence of haptic feedback correspond to the same input gesture.

5. A computer system comprising:

a processor and memory storing computer program code for protecting data input to a user input device from detection, the user input device including an artificial haptic feedback mechanism arranged to generate an occurrence of haptic feedback for sensing by the user of the user input device in response to each input gesture on the user input device by the user, by:

adjusting at least a subset of each occurrence of haptic feedback with respect to a previous occurrence of haptic feedback by one or more of: a timing of the haptic feedback with respect to a time of occurrence of a corresponding input gesture including one or more of: synchronizing the haptic feedback for an input gesture with a synchronization reference other than the input gesture itself, or adding a delay between the detection of the input gesture and the generation of the haptic feedback; an adjustment to a duration of haptic feedback relative to a duration of the previous occurrence of haptic feedback including one or more of: a prolongation of the haptic feedback for a duration exceeding the previous occurrence of haptic feedback, or a reduction in a duration of the haptic feedback to a duration below the previous occurrence of the haptic feedback; and a generation of one or more addition occurrences of haptic feedback.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program code to, when loaded into a computer system and executed thereon, cause the computer system to protect data input to a user input device from detection, the user input device including an artificial haptic feedback mechanism arranged to generate an occurrence of haptic feedback for sensing by the user of the user input device in response to each input gesture on the user input device by the user, by:

adjusting at least a subset of each occurrence of haptic feedback with respect to a previous occurrence of haptic feedback by one or more of: a timing of the haptic feedback with respect to a time of occurrence of a corresponding input gesture including one or more of: synchronizing the haptic feedback for an input gesture with a synchronization reference other than the input gesture itself, or adding a delay between the detection of the input gesture and the generation of the haptic feedback; an adjustment to a duration of haptic feedback relative to a duration of the previous occurrence of haptic feedback including one or more of: a prolongation of the haptic feedback for a duration exceeding the previous occurrence of haptic feedback, or a reduction in a duration of the haptic feedback to a duration below the previous occurrence of the haptic feedback; and a generation of one or more addition occurrences of haptic feedback.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 24, 2023
From: ROSCOE, JONATHAN; SMITH-CREASEY, MAX
To: BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
Reel/Frame 063094/0044 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 2003349 · Mar 6, 2020 · regional
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230118093A1 · Apr 20, 2023
References Cited (15)
US 8667414B2 · Zhai et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 10504340B2 · Moussette · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 10509627B2 · Abuelsaad et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20070140505A1 · Tribble et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20180341757A1 · Haque et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190064924A1 · Nocon · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190384431A1 · Berger · 2019 [cited by examiner]
AU 2020203587B2 · 2021 [cited by examiner]
Combined Search and Examination Report under Sections 17 and 18(3) for Great Britain Application No. 2003349.4, mailed Nov. 30, 2020, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
Extended European Search Report for European Application No. 20161682.8, mailed on Sep. 16, 2020, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion for Application No. PCT/EP2021/054386, mailed on Apr. 30, 2021, 13 pages. [cited by applicant]
Ling C., et al., “You Cannot Sense My PINs: A Side-Channel Attack Deterrent Solution Based on Haptic Feedback on Touch-Enabled Devices,” 2016 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), IEEE, Dec. 4, 2016, XP03305… [cited by applicant]
Simon L., et al., “Don't Interrupt Me While I Type: Inferring Text Entered Through Gesture Typing on Android Keyboards,” Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, 2016, vol. 3, pp. 136-154. [cited by applicant]
Simon L., et al., “PIN Skimmer,” Security and Privacy in Smartphones & Mobile Devices, ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, Nov. 8, 2013, XP058034144, DOI: 10.1145/2516760.2516770, ISBN: 978-1-4503-2491-5, pp. 67-78. [cited by applicant]
Smith-Creasey M., et al., “A Novel Word-Independent Gesture-Typing Continuous Authentication Scheme for Mobile Devices,” Computers & Security, vol. 83. 2019, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]