System and method for transaction authentication using a mobile communication device
A transaction authentication system uses a computer network and mobile telephone network to authenticate a user. The user initiates a transaction and provides an identity token, such as the mobile telephone number. The identity token is used by an authentication server to initiate the issuance of a new temporary identity for the corresponding mobile device. The new temporary identity is forwarded from the mobile device to the authentication server which issues a security code if there is a match between the new temporary identities. The security code is forwarded to a transaction server which relays it to the authentication server. If the forwarded security code matches the generated security code, the transaction is permitted to continue.
1. A method for authentication comprising:
initiating a transaction with a transaction server coupled to a computer network, the transaction requiring a security code for authentication;
providing an identity token associated with a mobile communication device associated with the transaction requestor to a transaction authentication server;
the transaction authentication server using the identity token to communicate with a public mobile telephone network associated with the mobile communication device to thereby initiate a re-registration of the mobile communication device;
generating the security code at the transaction authentication server;
transmitting the security code to the mobile communication device;
providing the security code to the transaction server; and
transmitting the security code from the transaction server to the transaction authentication server to authenticate the security code.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the security code is authenticated if the security code received from the transaction server matches the security code generated by the transaction authentication server.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising terminating the transaction if the security code received from the transaction server does not match the security code generated by the transaction authentication server.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the security code is based on a temporary identity for the mobile communication device.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the security code is transmitted to the mobile communication device as a set of human-readable characters and displayed on a display of the mobile communication device.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising entering the set of human-readable characters using a human-operable input device to thereby provide the security code to the transaction server.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the security code is transmitted to the mobile communication device as a symbology and displayed on a display of the mobile communication device.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising using a scanning device to scan the symbology on the display of the mobile communication device to thereby provide the security code to the transaction server.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising completing the transaction if the security code is authenticated and invalidating the security code a predetermined time following authentication of the security.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising completing the transaction if the security code is authenticated and invalidating the security code upon completion of the transaction.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein initiating the transaction with the transaction server uses an automated teller machine.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein initiating the transaction with the transaction server uses a point-of-sales terminal.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein initiating the transaction with the transaction server occurs using the mobile communication device.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein initiating the transaction with the transaction server occurs using a computing device.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the identity token is the mobile telephone number of the mobile communication device associated with the transaction requestor.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the identity token is a subscriber identity data of the mobile communication device associated with the transaction requestor.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the identity token is a temporary mobile subscriber identity previously assigned to the mobile communication device by the public mobile telephone network.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction authentication server is coupled to the transaction server via a wide-area network.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction authentication server is coupled to the transaction server via a local-area network.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction authentication server is a portion of the transaction server.
21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising completing the transaction wherein the transaction is a financial transaction.
22. A system for transaction authentication requiring a security code using a mobile communication device coupled to a mobile network, comprising:
a transaction server coupled to a computer network and configured to receive data to initiate a transaction;
a transaction authentication server coupled to the computer network and configured to receive an identity token associated with a transaction request and to communicate with the mobile network using the identity token to initiate re-registration of the mobile communication device, the transaction authentication server to generate the security code and to provide the security code to the mobile communication device; and
a data storage element associated with the transaction authentication server configured to store the security code in association with the mobile communication device;
wherein the transaction server is further configured to receive the security code from the mobile communication device and to forward the received security code to the transaction authentication server to permit the transaction authentication server to authenticate the security code.
23. The system of claim 22 wherein the security code is authenticated if the security code received from the transaction server matches the security code generated by the transaction authentication server, the transaction server being configured to permit the transaction to proceed.
24. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction authentication server is further configured to provide a transaction termination instruction to the transaction server if the security code received from the transaction server does not match the security code generated by the transaction authentication server.
25. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction server and the transaction authentication server are integrated into a single computing device.
26. The system of claim 22 wherein the computer network is a Wide-Area Network.
27. The system of claim 26 wherein the transaction server and the transaction authentication server are configured for communication with each other using a Local-Area Network.
28. The system of claim 26 wherein the transaction server and the transaction authentication server are configured for communication with each other using the Wide-Area Network.
29. The system of claim 22 wherein the computer network is a Local-Area Network.
30. The system of claim 29 wherein the transaction server and the transaction authentication server are configured for communication with each other using the Local-Area Network.
31. The system of claim 29 wherein the transaction server and the transaction authentication server are configured for communication with each other using a Wide-Area Network.
32. The system of claim 22 wherein the re-registration process results in a temporary identity for the mobile communication device and the transaction authentication server is configured to generate the security code based on the temporary identity for the mobile communication device.
33. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction authentication server is configured to generate the security code as a set of human-readable characters and displayed on a display of the mobile communication device.
34. The system of claim 33 wherein the transaction server is further configured to receive the set of human-readable characters using a human-operable input device to thereby provide the security code to the transaction server.
35. The system of claim 22 wherein the security code is transmitted to the mobile communication device as a symbology and displayed on a display of the mobile communication device.
36. The system of claim 35 , further comprising a scanning device to scan the symbology on the display of the mobile communication device to thereby provide the security code to the transaction server.
37. The system of claim 22 , further comprising a timer configured to measure a predetermined time following authentication of the security code wherein the transaction authentication server is further configured to invalidate the security code after expiration of the predetermined.
38. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction authentication server is further configured to invalidate the security code upon completion of the transaction.
39. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction server is configured to initiate the transaction in response to data received from an automated teller machine.
40. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction server is configured to initiate the transaction in response to data received from a point-of-sales terminal.
41. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction server is configured to initiate the transaction in response to data received from using the mobile communication device.
42. The system of claim 22 wherein the transaction server is configured to initiate the transaction in response to data received from a computing device.