Process for entry of a confidential piece of information and ass

Details Process for entry of a confidential piece of information and ass Process for entry of a confidential piece of information and ass

1995-04-14

1998-09-29

Zimmerman, Brian

Communications: electrical

Continuously variable indicating

With meter reading

340543, 34082534, 361172, 341 23, 341 28, 345 50, 345116, 345178, G07F 702

Patent

active

058150838

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION



Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a process for entry of a confidential piece of information furnished by a user at a terminal, this information comprising several signs which belong to a first series of signs referred to herein also as authenticating signs.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known that means for electronic payment using a card associated with a terminal are becoming widespread, and that these include ticket dispensers and in-store means of payment.
In order to identify a card holder or an operator, this person is often required to input a confidential piece of information, usually called a code, by means of a keyboard associated with the terminal. The conditions under which this code must be input by means of the keyboard do not generally permit the keyboard to be satisfactorily hidden, so that it can be observed by a third party during the entry of the confidential information. An ill-intentioned person can then use this information to fraudulent ends.
Certain systems include keyboards whose signs are disposed in positions that vary from one keyboard to another so that it is not possible for a third party who does not know the disposition of the signs on a keyboard in the course of being used to guess the confidential information simply by observing the position of the keys the user strikes. This, however, has the drawbacks of substantially complicating the embodiment of the keyboard and of engendering errors in the inputting of the confidential information when users who are used to a certain disposition of the signs do not pay attention to the fact that the keyboard in question does not have the usual disposition. In addition, an experienced defrauder can analyze the redistribution of the signs on a specific keyboard either before or after the entry of the confidential information by the user and memorize the position of the keys struck in order to eventually deduce the confidential information.


OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to propose a process for protecting a confidential piece of information comprising several confidential signs which belong to a first series of authenticating signs during the entry of this information, even when this operation may be observed by a third party.
With a view to the achievement of this object, the process according to the invention consists of defining a second series of signs or designating symbols; of displaying the first and second series of signs on a display means so that each authenticating sign in the first series will be disposed opposite a sign or designating symbol in the second, and of using the signs in the second series of signs, opposite which the signs in the first series composing the confidential information are disposed, for the user's designation of the confidential information.
Thus, the user does not directly designate the signs which compose the confidential information, but rather the signs--those in the second series--which are correlated with these signs in accordance with a correlation site that does not appear explicitly on the display means. Consequently, merely observation of the display means by a third party does not permit him or her to deduce the confidential signs that are entered.
In a first variant of the process according to the invention, one makes use of a keyboard which is distinct from the display means and which comprises a plurality of keys, identifies each of the keys on the keyboard by assigning it a sign or designating symbol that belongs to the second series of signs, and displays the first and second series of signs on the display means in a random mutual distribution that is known to the terminal; the user designates the authenticating signs in the first series which compose the confidential information by depressing each key on the keyboard whose sign or designating symbol corresponds to the sign or designating symbol in the second series that is located opposite one of the authenticating signs

REFERENCES:
patent: 4122444 (1978-10-01), Kitajima et al.
patent: 4333090 (1982-06-01), Hisrsch
patent: 4502048 (1985-02-01), Rehm
patent: 4727357 (1988-02-01), Curtin et al.
patent: 4857914 (1989-08-01), Thrower
patent: 5128672 (1992-07-01), Kaehler
patent: 5274370 (1993-12-01), Morgan et al.
patent: 5276314 (1994-01-01), Martino et al.
patent: 5396226 (1995-03-01), Wake et al.

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