AUTHENTICATION METHOD, PAYMENT AUTHORISATION METHOD AND CORRESPONDING ELECTRONIC EQUI PMENTS DESCRIPTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an authentication method, a payment authorisation method and correspond electronic equipments.

State of the Art

In the computer security field, authentication is defined as the process by which a computer, a software program or an user, verifies the correct, or at least presumed, identity of another computer, software program or user.

Currently, there are lots of different authentication kinds, with various levels of security and usability. It ranges from the classical pair of "username/password", to the combination of those with personal "one-time" codes, to the codes sequencers most recently used by bank institutions, also called "security tokens", which replaced the "one-time" codes.

From British patent application n ° 2384396, there is known an authentication system for safely transferring information through messages of a mobile communication network (e.g. SMS of GSM); messages are fully or partially encrypted; both the user originating the information and the user receiving the information are authenticated by an authorisation system that transfer the information; authentication is carried out by the authorisation system based on PINs received by it from both users (step 322 in Fig.4A and step 350 in Fig.4B) and compared (step 322 in Fig.4A and step 350 in Fig.4B) with PINs previously stored internally (step 308 in Fig.4A and step 328 in Fig.4B); the information authenticated transfer process provides that transaction-specific public keys are transferred from the authentication system to the originating terminal (message 310 in Fig.4A) and from the authentication system to the receiving terminal (message 334 in Fig.4B).

Summary of the Invention

Although the solution described in the above mentioned patent application is quite certain and safe, there is the risk that authenticating information (i.e. the PINs) and encrypting information (i.e. the public keys) may be captured and misused by malicious users as they are transmitted over the air and stored inside the authentication system.

The present invention is a solution designed to ensure a more certain and safe authentication of a person through a mobile phone terminal for the use of a generic service.

The requirement of authentication applies to all services that require the access to sensitive or confidential data, the secure communication of such data to third parties, and in general to all services that involve transfers of amounts of money or valuables or authorizations for such transfers in various capacities. In this context, the most common examples of human activities requiring authentication by an electronic system are: the purchase of a good on the Internet, the request for a certificate to a public institution, the use of a computer, the withdrawal of an amount of money from an ATM, the purchase of a good through a credit card or debit card at a normal retailer, and the carrying out of a banking transaction via the Internet (so-called "Home Banking").

The main technical features of the present invention are set out in the annexed claims to be considered an integral part of the present description ; other technical features of the present invention are set out in the following detailed description. The key aspect of the present invention is an authentication method; other aspects regard a payment authorisation method based on such authentication method and electronic equipments adapted for such methods.

The present invention had three main objectives:

isolation of sensitive information : avoiding exchange of sensitive data (PINs, cryptographic keys, ...) during the authentication procedure;

high certainty, robustness and security;

high usability by the users both in terms of operation (simple to use) and in terms of practicality (always available at any time).

The solution according to the present invention is based on the exchange of information between two entities:

a "User", user of a service, i.e. the entity, typically a person, wishing to authenticate; a "Manager", provider of the service, i.e. the entity with which the User intends to authenticate in order to use the service.

A third entity, the "Intermediary", located between the User and the Manager, takes care of providing the information technology support necessary for the exchange of information between the other two entities and for the authentication of the User toward the Manager. In some contexts, the Intermediary and Manager may coincide, but it is preferred to keep this logic separation for convenience of exposition.

The solution according to the present invention requires typically the installation of a software program on the mobile phone terminal of the User", called "Client"; this software program takes care of controlling the communication with the Manager and to provide the User with an appropriate phone-terminal application interface.

Instead, the Manager has typically available a Web-type interface for all its own operations; alternatively, it may be provided that the Manager has a mobile phone terminal with a Client that reflects completely that of the User.

The flow of information exchanged between the entities defined above is realized by means of text messages (phone text messages and/or computer text messages) and is split in two sections:

the section Manager-Intermediary: in this section the transport of information is via TCP/I P protocol for the Web-type interface and via SMS, MMS or TCP/IP protocol for the Client.

the section Intermediary-User; in this section the transport of information is via SMS, MMS or TCP/I P protocol (through e.g. an instant messaging technology) for the Client;

According to the most typical implementation of the present invention, there is provided: SMS transport on the Intermediary-User section and TCP/I P transport on the Manager-Intermediary section.

The information exchanged between the User and the Manager is divided into two types: "Control Data" and "Service Data".

Control Data are preferably always coded via asymmetric cryptography keys (public key + private key) at every step of the authentication procedure, thus ensuring confidentiality and authentication. Asymmetric cryptography, also known as an key-pair cryptography, public/private- key cryptography, or also public-key cryptography, is a type of cryptography where key-pairs are associated to the entities involved in communication :

the private key, personal and secret, is used to decode an encrypted text; - the public key, which has to be distributed, is used to encrypt a text directed to an entity who holds the corresponding private key.

Service Data may be "in clear", unless otherwise specified.

Advantageously, the messages are independent of the type of the transport used. Preferably, each text message used during authentication is transported using a single phone text message, in particular one SMS.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention as well as with its technical features and advantages will be better understood from the following description to be considered together with the annexed drawings wherein :

Fig.1 is a block diagram useful for understanding a registration procedure according to the present invention,

Fig.2 is a block diagram useful for understanding an authentication procedure according to the present invention, and

Fig.3 is a block diagram useful for understanding a payment procedure according to the present invention incorporating the authentication procedure of Fig.2.

Detailed description of the invention

Said description and said drawings are explanatory only and non-limiting.

According to the example described in the following, there is a service, hereinafter the "Authentication Service", that can be used by a user, hereinafter the "User" (labelled 7 in the figures), for certifying his identity to any service provider, hereinafter the "Manager" (refer to element 21 in the figures); the authentication service is provided by an entity, hereinafter the "Intermediary" (refer to element 9 in the figures); therefore, basically, three entities are involved: the User, the Manager and the Intermediary; each of these entities are associated to at least one electronic equipment (labelled 8, 9 and 21 in the figures) - in particular the User is associated to a mobile phone terminal having a mobile telephone number, typically a mobile phone (labelled 8 in the figures) - that allow to implement the invention.

It is to be noted that, in a typical real implementation environment, there will be a number of users, a number of managers, and one intermediary.

Three procedures are provided: a subscription procedure that allows the User to subscribe to the Authentication Service, a registration procedure that allows the User to start using the Authentication Service, and an authentication procedure that allows the Manager to authenticate the User.

Subscription Procedure

At subscription to the Authentication Service, the User provides (directly or indirectly) to the Intermediary, among other data, its own mobile telephone number, i.e. the "User Phone Number"; the User receives (directly or indirectly) from the Intermediate a personal code, called "User Code", that will identify himself uniquely in the context of the Authentication Service, and a software program, called "Client" (more precisely "User Client"), to be installed on his mobile phone terminal ; this software program is provided with a key, called the "Registration Key"; this key is generated through e.g. a random base algorithm, it is unambiguous and can be used only once during registration to the Authentication Service; the data of the User, i.e. the mobile telephone number, the User Code, the Registration Key, are stored in a "Database" accessible by the Intermediary for future use; this is the subscription procedure.

Once the subscription procedure is completed, the registration procedure may start.

Registration Procedure

The User, in order to be able to take advantage of the Authentication Service, performs the following steps:

1 ) installing the Client on a mobile phone of the User (associated with the User Phone Number e.g. through the SIM card of the User);

2) configuring on the Client a private code, called PIN [Personal Identification Number] ; this code is released neither by the Intermediary nor by the Manager, but is created by the User at the time of registration and is therefore known only to him.

The Client, after the configuration of the PIN by the User, performs the following steps:

1 ) generating a pair of "public key - private key" (i.e. User keys);

2) encrypting the "User private key" using the PIN as encryption key;

3) saving the User private key, thus encrypted, inside the mobile phone of the User;

4) sending to the Intermediary a "Registration Message" containing at least the generated "User public key" encrypted via the Registration Key".

The Intermediary, after receiving the Registration Message, performs the following steps:

1 ) validating the received Registration Message, based at least on the sender's mobile telephone number (that should correspond to the User Phone Number) and the Registration Key;

2) generating a pair of "public key - private key" (i.e. Intermediary keys) - such keys of the Intermediary may be associated with this specific User or may be associated with more than one user;

3) associating, in his Database, the locally generated "Intermediary private key" with the User public key received from the User; such Database is so constructed and managed to ensure the compliance with the existing legislation on protection of personal data as well as to ensure data security and integrity;

4) sending to the User a "Registration Validation Message" containing at least the generated "Intermediary public key", encrypted via the Registration Key.

The Client, on board the mobile phone of the User, after receiving the Registration Validation Message, saves the Intermediary public key inside the mobile phone of the User and emits a signal of completed procedure.

At this point the User is registered with the Authentication Service.

It is to be noted that, depending on the implementation of the present invention, the subscription procedure and the registration procedure may take place one just after the other.

It is also to be noted that, depending on the implementation of the present invention, these procedure may take place next to the Intermediary electronic equipment or through a safe connection to the Intermediary electronic equipment; in these cases, the registration procedure may be much simplified as the communication between User and Intermediary might be considered completely or highly safe.

Authentication Procedure

The authentication procedure is triggered by the User who, having the need, requests a service to the Manager.

The User communicates his own User Code, in addition to information about to the service requested, to the Manager. It is to be noted that in some cases such communication is not electronic such as in the case of e.g. the purchase of a good through a credit card or debit card at a normal retailer and that in some cases such communication may correspond to the User directly inputting information into the Manager electronic equipment such as in the case of e.g. the withdrawal of an amount of money from an ATM that in some cases such communication may correspond to the User indirectly inputting information into the Manager electronic equipment such as in the case of e.g. the purchase of a good on the Internet.

The Manager, after receiving the request of service, sends at least the received User Code and possibly information about the service requested to the Intermediary.

It is to be noted that this is typically performed by a software program, called "Client" (more precisely "Manager Client"), running on the electronic equipment associated with the Manager. It may well be that not only the User electronic equipment but also the Manager electronic equipment are mobile phone terminals; this is the case of e.g. an itinerant street vendor.

Afterwards the Intermediary performs the following procedure steps:

1 ) receiving the User Code and identifying the User and the User Phone Number;

2) generating an "Authentication Key"; this key may be generated by the Intermediary through e.g. a random base algorithm, may be unique and may be provided for single use within the current transaction (i.e. has a temporary use);

3) sending "Authentication Request Message" to the User (more precisely to the mobile phone terminal associated with the Mobile Phone Number, i.e. to the mobile phone of the User). Such message consists of two parts: a first part containing, if and when needed, "Service Data" and a second part containing the Authentication Key, encrypted via the "User public key" and optionally digitally signed.

The User Client, onboard the mobile phone of the User, receives the Authentication Request Message and performs the following steps:

1 ) warning the person currently using the mobile phone of the User of the presence of an "Authentication Request";

2) providing the Service Data to that person, upon request by him, and asking him whether he intends to authenticate or not with the service (i.e. to use it);

3) asking for a PIN upon a positive response from that person ;

4) extracting the User private key" and decrypting the second part of the Authentication Request Message via the received PIN received from that person (i.e. input by him), obtaining in this way the Authentication Key;

5) sending to the Intermediary a message of response to the Authentication Request, containing the Authentication Key (or equivalent^ a data derived therefrom) encrypted via the Intermediary public key".

The Intermediary receives the response to the Authentication Request and performs the following steps:

1 ) decrypting the Authentication Key through the Intermediary private key;

2) validating the just decrypted Authentication Key (or equivalent^ a data derived therefrom);

3) in case of validation with positive outcome, sending a "Confirmed Authentication Message" to the User and the Manager; in case of validation with negative outcome, sending a "Denied Authentication Message" to the User and the Manager.

The authentication procedure is now completed.

Cryptography and PIN

As already said, the preferred type of cryptography to be used for implementing the present invention, particularly for the authentication procedure, is asymmetric cryptography. Anyway, symmetric cryptography may be totally or partially used during the authentication procedure even if with a reduced safety and certainty; additionally, text messages may be divided into parts wherein each of these parts may be encrypted or non-encrypted, i.e. there may be non-encrypted text messages and/or fully-encrypted text messages and/or partially encrypted text messages depending on their content and/or the entities involved into the exchange but also depending on the specific circumstances and implementation of the present invention.

If asymmetric cryptography is used, the preferred approach is ECC [Elliptic Curve Cryptography] ; in this case, the preferred curves are from P-160 to P-256. This approach may advantageously be used also for digitally signing information and/or messages.

If symmetric cryptography is used, the preferred approach is AES [Advanced Encryption Standard]; in this case, the preferred key sizes are from 128 to 256 bits.

As already said a PIN is used as a cryptography key for encrypting and decrypting the User private key. If the Manager is associate to a mobile phone terminal, there may be Manager keys and the Manager private key may stored inside the mobile phone terminal of the Manager encrypted via a "Manager PIN".

Preferably any PIN should be rather short, for example from 4 to 8 digits, so that a person can easy remember it; in this case, using the PIN directly as a cryptography key might be not sufficiently safe; therefore, a hash function is advantageously applied to the PIN giving a sequence of bits (having a length preferably from 128 to 256) sufficiently long to be used as a safe cryptography key. The preferred hash functions family is SHA [Secure Hash Algorithm], in particular from 1 28 bits to 256 bits.

Payment Authorization Procedure

The payment authorization procedure may be considered an application of the authentication procedure described above; in this case, the term Buyer would be more appropriate than User and the term Seller would be more appropriate than Manager.

In order to implement such procedure in a practical environment where electronic payment systems already exist, it is advantageous to provide a fourth entity, hereinafter the "Payer", associated to at least one electronic equipment (labelled 123 in the Fig.3), that takes care of the payment, i.e. of the transfer of money from the bank account of the User to the bank account of the Manager (upon authentication of, i.e. authorization by, the User) ; it is provided that the Payer communicates with the Intermediary but not with the User and the Manager; both the User and the Manager needs to subscribe and to register to the service so that the data necessary for managing the authorization and the payment are available to Intermediary and to the Payer according to their needs and according to the specific implementation - subscription and registration may take place in the same way both for the User and for the Manager for example as described above and may involves only (or almost only) the Intermediary or both the Intermediary and the Payer, depending on the implementation.

It is to be noted that this procedure may be implemented so that it is applicable not only to payments from a buyer to a seller but also to transfers of money between persons; according to the implementation, the subscribers may act as a "User'V'Buyer" or "Manager'V'Seller" depending on the moment.

The main differences between the authentication procedure and the payment authorization procedure are the following:

the first part of the Authentication Request Message is necessary as it must contain at least the amount of the payment;

a third part of the Authentication Request Message is necessary as it must contain a code identifying the Manager, i.e. the beneficiary of the payment;

- the identification codes of the User and of the Manager as well as at least the amount of the payment need to be communicated to the Payer by the Intermediary;

typically the mobile telephone number of the User (and of the Manager) is stored internally to the Payer and not to the Intermediary; therefore, upon an Authentication Request (i.e. a Payment Request), the Intermediary should collect this information from the Payer;

the Authentication Key is generated by the Payer and is a financial transaction code unique to the Payer; therefore, upon an Authentication Request (i.e. a Payment Request), the Intermediary should collect this information from the Payer;

in case of confirmed authentication (i.e. authorization of payment by the User), a "Request of Payment Message" is sent by the Intermediary to the Payer and reference is made to the financial transaction code;

the Confirmed Authentication Message (that in this case means "payment confirmed") or Denied Authentication Message (that in this case means "payment denied") is sent by the Intermediary to the User and the Manager only after receiving a "Result of Payment Message" from the Payer in response to the "Request of Payment Message".

The payment authorization procedure according to the present invention is applicable also to the payments connected to electronic commerce.

In the case of electronic commerce, according to a first possibility, the Manager/Seller sells his own products/services and the Manager/Seller electronic equipment is a computer of the Manager/Seller connected to the Internet, receiving input from the User/Buyer and communicating with the Intermediary electronic equipment. The identification codes of the User/Buyer, i.e. the entity giving money, and of the Manager/Seller, i.e. the entity receiving money, as well as at least the amount of the payment need to be communicated to the Payer.

In the case of electronic commerce, according to a second possibility, the Manager/Seller sells products/services of a Third Party (such as e.g. "eBay") and the Manager/Seller electronic equipment is a computer of the Manager/Seller connected to the Internet, receiving input from the User/Buyer and communicating with the Intermediary electronic equipment. The identification codes of the User/Buyer, i.e. the entity giving money, and of the Third Party, i.e. the entity receiving money, as well as at least the amount of the payment need to be appropriately communicated to the Payer; therefore, subscription and registration need to be done by the User/Buyer and the Third Party, while the Manager/Seller has a preferential relation with the Intermediary.

Embodiment of Fig.1

In Fig.1 the User 7 configures (arrow 1 ) a PIN on the Client installed on board mobile phone 8. As the User creates the PIN, it is known only to him. The Client, after the configuration of the PIN by the User, generates a pair of "public key - private key", encrypts (arrow 2) the generated private key using the PIN as encryption key and saves the so-encrypted private key 1 1 inside the mobile phone 8. Finally, he encrypts (arrow 2) the generated public key, encrypted via the Registration Key, and sends (arrow 3) a registration message containing the so- encrypted public key 1 0 to the Intermediary electronic equipment 9.

The Intermediary electronic equipment 9, after receiving the registration message, validates the registration message received, based on the sender's mobile telephone number and the Registration Key; it generates a pair of "public key - private key"; it associates (arrow 4) in his database 1 2 the private key thus generated, i.e. "Intermediary private key", with the User public key; it sends (arrow 5) a message of registration validation, containing the Intermediary public key, encrypted via the Registration Key", to the User electronic equipment 8.

The Client, on board the mobile phone 8 of the User, after receiving the registration validation message, saves the Intermediary public key" provided by the Intermediary electronic equipment inside the mobile phone 8 which emits (arrow 6) a signal of completed procedure. At this point, the User is registered with the Authentication Service.

Embodiment of Fig.2

In Fig.2, the Manager electronic equipment 21 communicates (arrow 1 3) the User Code to the Intermediary electronic equipment 9; the Intermediary electronic equipment 9 provides to generate 14 the temporary Authentication Key 22, which can be used only once; the Intermediary electronic equipment 9 sends (arrow 15) the Authentication Request Message to the User electronic equipment 8.

The Client, on board the mobile phone 8 of the User, receives the Authentication Request Message. Therefore, it warns (arrow 1 7) the person currently using the mobile phone 8, that as a rule should correspond to the User 7, about the presence of an Authentication Request and, upon request by the User, it presents (arrow 17) the Service Data contained in the Authentication Request Message and asks (arrow 1 7) the User 7 whether he intends to authenticate or not with the service; the Client asks (arrow 1 7) for a PIN upon positive response by the User 7 and the User 7 provides (arrow 1 6) a PIN that should correspond to the PIN provided by the User 7 at registration.

Through the received PIN (if correct), the Client can extract and decrypt the User private key and, through the just-decrypted User private key, it can decrypt the second part of the Authentication Requests Message, in this way obtaining the Authentication Key.

The Client onboard the User mobile phone 8 sends (arrow 18) to the Intermediary electronic equipment 9 a response message to the Authentication Request containing the Authentication Key, encrypted via the Intermediary public key.

The Intermediary electronic equipment 9, after receiving the response to the Authentication Request, decrypts the Authentication Key through the Intermediary private key, validates the Authentication Key, and, in case of validation with positive result, it sends (arrow 19) a message of Confirmed Authentication to the Manager electronic equipment 21 and typically the same message of Confirmed Authentication to the User electronic equipment 8; in case of validation with negative outcome, it sends a message of Denied Authentication to the User and the Manager.

The Authentication Procedure is now completed.

As it should be apparent from what has just been described, the present invention has the following advantages :

no sensitive data is transmitted during the authentication procedure and the Authentication Key may be so selected to be used only one time; in particular, the PIN is not output by any entity, is chosen by the User, is never permanently stored inside the User electronic equipment and is never transmitted outside of the User electronic equipment;

the use of text messages encrypted by means of asymmetric cryptography assures security, robustness and certainty; moreover, as authentication is always requested to the User by the Manager, the request is always directed to the mobile phone terminal of the User, effectively preventing any type of fraud;

- the authentication procedure provides only typing the PIN in order to be completed by the User; this facilitates operations on the mobile phone because there is no need e.g. to write text messages directly; the use of mobile phone and SMS allows for the use of the present invention in any context in today's daily life at any time and wherever in the world.

Embodiment of Fig.3

It is to be noted that in Fig.3 reference numerals are used similar to those used in Fig.2; in particular, corresponding (or almost corresponding) element are labelled with the same number but augmented by 100.

In Fig.3, the Manager/Seller electronic equipment 121 sends (arrows 1 13) a payment request to the Intermediary electronic equipment 109 containing payment data, its identification code and the User/Buyer identification code; the Intermediary electronic equipment 109 checks the authenticity of this request by decrypting it via the Intermediary private key and, if the check gives a positive result, requests (arrow 124) a check of the received data to the Payer electronic equipment 1 23 (this is the interface with an already existing payment circuit non shown in the figure).

The Payer electronic equipment 123 gives a reply (arrow 125) with a positive or negative outcome; if the outcome is positive, the Payer electronic equipment 1 23 places into the reply the mobile telephone number of the User/Buyer and a Financial Transaction Code (corresponding to already mentioned Authentication Key); this code is unique and may be used only once so to identify with certainty a financial transaction of the payment circuit.

Once the Intermediary electronic equipment 109 has received the necessary information from the Payer electronic equipment 1 23, the Intermediary electronic equipment 1 09 sends (arrow 1 14/1 15) to the User/Buyer electronic equipment 1 08 of the User/Buyer 107 a Payment Authorization Request Message; this message comprises two parts: a first part containing payment data (at least the payment amount) and a second part containing the Financial Transaction Code, encrypted via the User/Buyer public key and possibly digitally signed by the Intermediary. The Client onboard the User/Buyer electronic equipment 108 of the User/Buyer 107 receives the Payment Authorization Request Message, checks the signature (if any) and performs the following steps:

presenting (arrow 1 17) the request to User/Buyer 1 07;

upon request (arrow 1 16) by the User/Buyer 1 07, presenting (arrow 1 17) the payment data (extracted from the received Payment Authorization Request Message) to User/Buyer 107 and asking (arrow 1 17) to User/Buyer 1 07 the authorization to pay;

upon positive answer (arrow 16) by the User/Buyer 107, requesting (arrow 1 1 7) a PIN; through a correct PIN received from the User/Buyer 107, decrypting the second part of the received Payment Authorization Request Message, obtaining in this way the Financial Transaction Code;

sending (arrow 1 18) to the Intermediary electronic equipment 109 a reply to the payment authorization request containing at least the Financial Transaction Code, encrypted via the Intermediary public key and possibly digitally signed by the User/Buyer.

The Intermediary electronic equipment 1 09, upon reception of the reply to the payment authorization request from the User/Buyer electronic equipment 1 08, checks the signature (if any) and performs the following steps:

decrypting the encrypted Financial Transaction Code via the Intermediary private key;

validating the reply to the payment authorization request e.g. by the comparing the Financial Transaction Code sent to the User/Buyer and the Financial Transaction Code received from the User/Buyer;

in case of positive outcome of the validation, sending (arrow 1 26) to the Payer electronic equipment 123 a Payment Request Message containing the payment data and/or the Financial Transaction Code.

The Payer electronic equipment 123, upon reception of the Payment Request Message from the Intermediary electronic equipment 109, takes the necessary steps for carrying out the payment (not described here as they are typical of the known payment circuits) and sends (arrow 127) to the Intermediary electronic equipment 1 09 a Payment Result Message containing information regarding the outcome of the payment that could be positive or negative (for example in case the User/Buyer has not sufficient money in his bank account).

The Intermediary electronic equipment 1 09, upon reception of the Payment Result Message from the Payer electronic equipment 123, sends a Payment Confirmed Message or Payment Denied Message both to (arrow 120) the User/Buyer electronic equipment and to (arrow 1 1 9) the Manager/Seller electronic equipment. The payment authorization procedure (and also the payment) is now completed.