Telephonic communications – Call or terminal access alarm or control – At switching center
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-29
2004-05-04
Tieu, Benny (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Call or terminal access alarm or control
At switching center
C713S152000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06731731
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to CTI (computer telephony integration) and, particularly, to user authentication utilizing a CTI technique.
BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE
In the modern society, a technique for authenticating a person who has preliminarily been registered as a regular user (hereinafter called as a registered user) is used in various situations in the society. For example, such an authentication technique is utilized in the situations where a user makes access to information providing service on a communications network system or where an electronic lock set at an entrance of an office building is unlocked.
As the above-mentioned authentication technique, use has traditionally been made of a system in which each registered user is assigned with a fixed password. Upon authentication, a user of the system is required to input a password, which is then compared with the password which has already been registered. Only when the coincidence is detected between them, the user is allowed to use the system. Hereinafter, such a technique that the authentication is carried out by the use of the fixed password as a general rule will hereinafter be called a fixed password system. In the fixed password system, the registered user can easily be authenticated. However, it is difficult to create, as a password, a character string which can easily be memorized only by the registered user and which can not be guessed by a third person other than the registered person. It is also difficult to make all the registered users conduct perfect management of the password. Under the circumstances, it is highly probable that the fixed password system is invaded if repeatedly attacked as a target of a hacker.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the fixed password system, a variety of techniques have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) H10-336345 discloses an authentication system which is used when a user's information terminal is connected to an information provider on the communications network system. In this authentication system, the registered user is authenticated by the use of a caller's telephone number peculiar to the user's information terminal instead of the fixed password system. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the third person from making access to the information provider by using any device other than the information terminal which is registered.
However, restrictions have been imposed on the above-mentioned technique such that a terminal for use in authentication of the registered user should be the same as a terminal for use in receiving the service from the information provider. In other words, because the telephone number used by the information terminal of the registered user is registered, even the registered user can not be authenticated if he/she uses another information terminal connected with an unregistered telephone number.
The above-mentioned authentication system can be used in authentication of making access to the information provider on the communications network system. However, the system is not available to authentication of using an information processing device which can not be accessed from the user's terminal. Specifically, no authentication can be executed by the above-mentioned system in case where the electronic lock of the building is unlocked or in case where a customer is authenticated at a cash dispenser in a bank.
Moreover, since the telephone number used by the information terminal is authenticated, it is not possible to separately authenticate individual users in case where a single information terminal is used by a plurality of users.
Beside the above-mentioned technique disclosed in JP-A H10-336345, a so-called one-time password system is known as a technique to solve the problem in the fixed password technique. In the fixed password system, the password is kept unchanged unless it is renewed by a system side or the registered user. On the other hand, in the one-time password system, a new password is used every time when the authentication is performed. Therefore, even if the password is leaked to the third person, it is possible to minimize a damage. As a conventional technique utilizing the one-time password system, the following techniques are known.
In the technique disclosed in JP-A H11-178022, use is made of a password generator which changes a generated password upon every authentication in synchronism with an authentication server. Upon requesting the authentication to the authentication server, the registered user transmits to the authentication server the password generated by the password generator together with an ID of the registered user himself/herself. As the authentication server is synchronized with the password generator, it is possible to generate a password corresponding to the ID at the time instant when the authentication is requested. Thus, the authentication server can authenticate the user by comparing the password received from the user and the password generated by the authentication server itself.
In the technique disclosed in JP-A H8-227397 or JP-A H11-161618, each individual registered user is assigned with a different coding rule. Each registered user is given a decoder which is operable in accordance with the coding rule assigned to him/her. When the ID is transmitted from the user, the authentication server randomly generates a password, encodes the password in accordance with the coding rule assigned to the user of the ID, and thereafter sends the encoded result to the user. Upon reception of the encoded result, the user decodes the password by the use of his/her decoder and sends the decoded result back to the authentication server. The authentication server authenticates the user by comparing the password generated by itself and the data sent back from the user.
In the above-mentioned conventional techniques utilizing the one-time password system, it is necessary to prepare for every registered user private hardware or a set of private software and hardware which can execute the software. The private hardware or the private software is often expensive. As the hardware necessary to execute the private software, a mobile information apparatus or a notebook type personal computer can be used. However, these apparatuses are not low in price and not available to everybody, although they are increasingly and widely spread. Therefore, the cost problem arises also in this case. Moreover, the use of the private hardware urges the user to carry the apparatus which is required only for the authentication. This will spoil the convenience.
The object of the present invention is to provide an authentication technique using a new one-time password system which solves the problems in the fixed password system and the technique disclosed in JP-A H11-336345 as well as the problems in the conventional one-time password system disclosed in JP-A H11-178022, JP-A H8-227397, and H11-161618. More particularly, the present invention has the following objects to be solved:
Private hardware or software exclusively for authentication and liable to be expensive is not necessary.
A terminal for authentication and a terminal used for reception of service need not be the same.
Use is also possible in authentication at an information processing device, such as an electronic lock for locking a building and an automatic cash dispenser, which can not be accessed from a user's terminal.
Individual users can be separately authenticated even if the same terminal is used by a plurality of users.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a user authentication method, a user authentication system, and a recording medium with a user authentication program recorded therein.
(1) User Authentication Method
A user authentication method provided by the present invention is a method of authenticating a preliminarily registered user by a device for providing service (hereinafter referred to as a serv
Comsquare Co., Ltd.
Tieu Benny
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