GB2405286A

GB2405286A - A telecommunications service access control method

Info

Publication number: GB2405286A
Application number: GB0319563A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bart Reynaert
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 2003-08-20
Filing date: 2003-08-20
Publication date: 2005-02-23
Also published as: GB0319563D0

Abstract

In a telecommunications network access to a user account for services is permitted when an attempt to gain access is made from a network terminal or user equipment such as a telephone which is held in a user profile for the account. In the event that the access attempt is made from a different terminal the access is refused.

Description

1 2405286 A telecommunications service access control method This

invention relates to a telecommunications service access control s method.

It is now possible for a subscriber to access telecommunications services from a terminal other than his or her own. This is useful where the subscriber is travelling or working from a different location for example.

A problem with this is that it is also possible to non-authorised persons to attempt to use the services at the subscriber's expense. To counter this possibility it is known to require a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to be entered before the services are provided. A number of attempts are usually allowed to cater for mistakes by the true subscriber before the call is terminated. However, it is then possible for another series of attempts to be made.

It will be appreciated that some services are expensive to subscribe to and are thus of sufficient value to a fraudster for the fraudster to persist until successful. The network operator will often write off the cost of such a fraud for the sake of maintaining goodwill with the subscriber. Thus the effects of such fraudulent use can have a significant financial impact.

2s According to the invention there is provided a telecommunications service control method for controlling access to a user account which method comprising storing a set of network identities from which access is to be permitted, accepting a call to access the user account from a network terminal, comparing the network identity of that terminal with À À À e À e ee.

À e À e À. e the stored set of terminals and when in agreement permitting access to the user account and when not in agreement not permitting access to the user account.

Preferably, the access to the user account is subject to further security procedures such as the entry of a personal identification number (PIN).

The set of terminal identities may be produced by the network operator or by the authorised user of the user account.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a communications network operating in accordance with is an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an illustrative block diagram of the method applied by the network shown in figure 1 in a preliminary procedure to establish a user profile; and Figure 3 shows in block diagram form the application of the method to an incoming access request.

With reference to figure 1, a communications network 1 comprises a 2s public switched telephony network 2, a private network 3 linked to the PSTN and serving a number of telephones 4, 5 and 6 in a business. The PSTN 2 includes a number of telephones 7, 8, 9 and 10. The PSTN 2 is also linked to a mobile network l l serving a plurality of mobile terminals 12, 13 and 14.

À e e seeeee À e e e e eee e e e e e seeee e e e e The private network 3 is controlled by a network manager 15 which has a memory 16. The network manager 15 also controls the way in which user accounts on the network are accessed. The telephones 4 to 6 are s allocated numbers in the numbering scheme and allocated a user account.

The user account includes a suite of services such as call forwarding. The call forwarding service when enacted enables an incoming call for a telephone to be redirected to another terminal. Thus, for example a caller calling the telephone 4 may be connected to telephone 6. The caller may also be connected to telephones outside the local network 3 for example telephone 8 or mobile 12. The user of the telephone 4 may wish to do this where he or she is working at a different desk, at home or travelling.

It is important to ensure that no unauthorized person redirects calls to an extension and thus each user is allocated a personal identification number (PIN). The PIN is entered at a prompt by the user in order to enter a procedure to redirect the telephone calls to a different number. However, this does not always avoid malicious redirection of calls. The reason for this is that the user's PIN may be known to another person or even guessed by another person. The present invention caters for an additional level of security.

When a user account is set-up, the user will be invited to enter at his or her normally allocated telephone the additional telephones from which 2s the account may be accessed. In the particular case of the user of telephone 4 this is a home telephone number for telephone 8 and a mobile telephone number for the mobile 12.

À À À eve e À e À À ee- e À À À À . À À e À e À. À À À The procedure is shown in figure 2. In a first step 20, the user starts the procedure by entering a number code at the telephone keypad. The network manager 15 responds with a voice prompt requesting PIN entry.

The user in step 21 then enters the PIN number for that user account. The network manager 15 in step 22 checks the entered PIN with the number held in the user account profile held in memory 16. If the pin is correct then the positive branch 23 is followed and if not the negative branch 24 is followed.

lo In the event that the negative branch is followed, if the number of the PIN entry attempts is less than five then the procedure loops back to step 21.

If the number of PIN entry attempts is five or more then the connection is broken in step 25. In this manner the user has four attempts at PIN entry before the connection is broken. By limiting the attempts persons Is attempting to gain access at least in part thwarted.

Considering the positive branch, the user is then requested by a voice prompt to enter the telephone numbers from which account access will be made. Thus, in the particular example, at this point the user would enter in step 26 the telephone numbers for his or her home number for telephone 8 and the number for the mobile telephone 12.

The entered numbers are stored by the network manager 15 in a user account profile in the memory 16 as represented by step 27. Multiple 2s number entry is catered for by a loop back to step 26 or the procedure ends if there are no more numbers to be entered.

When a request is received from a telephone to access the user account then this request results in the network manager 15 comparing the À À À ... ...

: .:: :: À:. ...e À . . À À À À.. À À À s telephone number with the profile held for that particular account.

Access is refused in this embodiment where the telephone number differs to the profile. The process is shown in figure 3.

The profile check procedure is initiated by a request from a telephone to access a particular user account as represented by step 30. In a first step 31 of the procedure itself, the number of the calling telephone is compared with the stored user profile for the particular account. In the event that the number is not one of those in the stored profile then a negative branch is followed to a further step 32 in which the connection is broken. This step may also include security alerts being made to the network operator or to the authorised user. If the number is present in the user profile then access is permitted in step 33.

IS In alternative embodiments of the invention if there is no agreement between the stored profile and the calling telephone number then an addition security step may be carried out to allow the calling number to be added to the profile. This step may involve the entry of a further PIN or password.

À e eve.-e À À À À À .... . À À * À À À À À À Àe À À À

Claims

Claims 1. A telecommunications service control method for controlling

access to a user account which method comprising storing a set of network identities from which access is to be permitted, accepting a call to access the user account from a network terminal, comparing the network identity of that terminal with the stored set of terminals and when in agreement permitting access to the user account and when not in agreement not permitting access to the user account.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein access to the user account requires the input of a personal identification number allocated to that account.
3. A telecommunications service control method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the drawing.

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