KR20050092171A - User authentication method for handheld communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for securing a mobile communication device, and more particularly, to a method for securing a mobile communication device, in which various unit functions such as a call transmission / reception function and a wireless payment function cannot be used at all except a mobile communication device registrant.

Conventional mobile communication device security method has a problem that there is no solution to information leakage and unauthorized use when absent (for a while and left unprotected on the office or table) or lost mobile communication device. As roles become more diversified and important, more complete security measures are urgently needed.

The present invention has been made to solve the problem of the security of the mobile communication device, before using any function of the mobile communication device, including the transmission and reception function must be subjected to the user authentication procedure and minimize the risk in case of loss. The present invention aims to provide a more complete method of securing mobile communication devices.

Therefore, if the mobile communication device according to the present invention is named and released as 'no touch', it is expected that the product can be greatly spotlighted in the market as a product that satisfies the consumer desire for a more complete security function.

Description

Security method of mobile communication device {User Authentication Method for Handheld Communication Device}

The present invention relates to a method for securing a mobile communication device, and in detail, various other unit functions such as a call transmission / reception function and a wireless payment function can be used.

The present invention relates to an enhanced method for securing a mobile communication device that cannot be used at all except the registrant.

Thanks to the rapid development of wireless mobile communication, the number of mobile communication subscribers in Korea is increasing so fast that there is no origin in the world, and the mobile communication devices such as mobile communication devices and PDAs are now a necessity in our lives. no.

Mobile communication devices have steadily expanded their applications from simple phone calls to messages, wireless Internet, home networking supervision, and wireless payments.

As the roles of mobile communication devices become diversified and important, mobile communication devices are becoming more valuable items targeted by others than any other items carried by individuals, and the leakage of various information from personal privacy information to financial information And security measures that can prevent mental and material damage is very urgent.

Conventional methods of security of mobile communication devices include a method of controlling some functions of a mobile communication device by setting a password. However, as a communication device, the most important reception function and transmission function (especially in case of being absent or lost when forgotten for a while) Possibility of unauthorized call by other people and leakage of personal information, especially in the wireless payment part that is extended to unconditional outflow of personal information and credit card function by unconditional calling number display, it is a situation that requires thorough security. .

In addition, the function of locking the keypad of the mobile communication device is widely used, but the reception and caller display functions cannot be controlled, and information exchange by other input means other than the keypad has a physical limitation that cannot be controlled.

Therefore, in case the mobile communication device is in the hands of others, it is urgent to prepare a more complete security measure that can completely prevent leakage of information and unauthorized use.

The present invention has been made to solve the problem of the security of the mobile communication device, the user must go through the user authentication procedure before using the mobile communication device, so if not registered registrants can not use any function, including the transmission and reception functions And to provide a more complete mobile communication device security method that can minimize the risk even if lost.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a user authentication method of a mobile communication device having an authentication unit for confirming whether the user is the same as the registered owner,

Recognizing the start of a unit function; Blocking the user-side end function of the unit function; Guiding a user to perform an authentication procedure; Determining whether the authentication value input by the user matches the authentication key set in the data ROM during the registration process of the mobile communication device; Repeating the authentication procedure if the authentication key does not match; If matched with the authentication key, the mobile terminal device security method comprising a; restoring the user-side terminal function of the unit function.

In addition, a security menu is provided to allow a user to arbitrarily set whether to set a security function for each unit function, the number of times of authorization key mismatch, and the grace time of the security function operation.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a portable communication device to which the present invention is applied.

1 illustrates a configuration including an authentication unit to execute a security function in a configuration of a general mobile communication device, and a description of general mobile communication device functions that are less related to the security function, which is the core of the present invention, will be omitted as much as possible.

The portable communication device of FIG. 1 is connected to the control unit 1 and the control unit 1 for controlling the overall operation of the mobile communication device, and various types of data input and output between various components and the control unit 1 in the vicinity thereof. An interface unit 2 for interfacing, a memory 3 for storing various data, a duplexer 5 for communicating with a base station via an antenna 4, an audio unit 6 for inputting and outputting voice signals, and a user The input unit 7 for dialing or inputting information, the display unit 8 for displaying the state of the portable communication device so that the user can visually identify it, the power unit 9 such as a rechargeable battery, and the preset method. It may include an authentication unit 10 to execute a security function that is a user authentication procedure.

The memory 3 includes a ROM which stores a predetermined program for controlling the overall operation of the portable communication device, data input / output when the overall operation of the portable communication device is executed by the controller 1, and various kinds of processed data. RAM is used to store data.

The duplexer 5 communicates with the base station through the antenna 4 so that a signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit 51 to the base station through the antenna 4, and the signal from the base station through the antenna 4 is received in the receiving unit ( 52).

The receiver 52 receives a radio signal output from the duplexer 5 under the control of the controller 1. In addition, the transmitter 51 transmits the modulated radio signal from the audio unit 6 to the duplexer 5.

The audio unit 6 modulates a radio signal from a voice signal input through the microphone 61, demodulates a radio signal received through the receiver 52, and sends the audio signal to the speaker 62 as a voice signal. In addition, when a ring signal is generated from the base station, the receiver 52 detects the ring signal and transmits the ring signal through a ringer 63.

The input unit 7 includes numeric keys for dialing, and generates corresponding key data when the user presses a predetermined key and outputs the corresponding key data to the interface unit 2.

The display unit 8 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying various types of information, controlled by the control unit 1 through the interface unit 2, and data generated by the input unit 7 and the control unit 1. It receives and displays various information processing signals from it.

The authentication unit 10 is a means for authenticating that the user of the mobile communication device is the same person as the registered owner, the authentication value input unit 11, the signal processing unit 12, the authentication processing unit 13, the data ROM 14 And a display processor 15.

The authentication unit 10 may be included in the control unit according to the authentication method and design method, or may be designed in a separate configuration connected to the control unit and the communication line.

In this detailed description, in order to facilitate the explanation of the function in consideration of the special role of the authentication unit 10, a configuration that is overlapped with the configuration of the existing mobile communication device is separately configured.

The overlapping elements include data ROM 14 and memory 3 ROM, display processing unit 15 and display unit 8, and authentication value input means 11 and input unit 7 in the case of a password authentication method. Will be applicable.

The authentication value input means 11 can be applied to various types of input means according to the authentication method, the conceivable authentication method is a password method, fingerprint recognition method, iris recognition method, voice recognition method, retinal recognition method There may be a back.

Such conventional authentication methods are incorporated into a mobile communication device to be manufactured as a special function mobile communication device. Since it is impossible to produce a mobile communication device including all the above methods, implementation cost, authentication processing time, and convenience of use are as follows. It may be desirable to adopt one that is optimal in view of gender.

Accordingly, the input means 11 may be the same means as the input unit 7 in the case of the password method, and the fingerprint sensing unit in the case of the fingerprint recognition method.

The signal processing means 12 reads authentication information such as fingerprint, voice, iris, retina, etc. from the input means 11 and converts it into a digital signal.

The authentication processing means 13 receives the converted signal from the signal processing means 12, and notifies the controller 1 of the match with the authentication key value set on the data ROM 14 when registering the portable communication device. do.

The display means 15 informs the user of the portable communication device in an appropriate message that an authentication procedure is required prior to using the portable communication device and shows the authentication processing result to the user.

2 illustrates a procedure in which a user of a mobile communication device partially controls a security function through a security menu.

Authentication methods such as password and fingerprint recognition are already determined at the time of manufacture and purchase of the mobile communication device, and the authentication key is determined at the time of registration and is set in the ROM 14, and the authentication key value once set can be arbitrarily changed by the user on the mobile communication device. It is a good idea to go to the registered place and go through the procedure so that you can correct it.

A security function other than the authentication method or the authentication key may provide a security menu for the user to control on the portable communication device.

The security menu means that if the mobile communication device user authentication procedure (s20 to s22) is successful, the mobile communication device registrant selects the target unit functions for setting the security function (s23), or defers the operation of the security function after using the mobile communication device. The time can be set (s24), or if the authentication value is inconsistent with the authentication key more than a certain number of times, it can be set to branch to the emergency processing routine (s25).

In step s23, it is possible to select a unit function to apply the security function to be authenticated before use.

Here, the unit function refers to each of various functions provided by the mobile communication device, such as transmission, reception, wireless payment, credit card function, phone number registration, phone number search, received message search, letter writing, ringtone selection, and game.

However, for all these unit functions, it may be very inconvenient to go through the authentication process every time it is used, so it would be convenient to allow the user to arbitrarily select the unit function to set the security function.

That is, the basic suggestion of the present invention is to execute the security procedure every time the function is used for all the functions of the mobile communication device including the transmission and reception of a call, but the functions which the user considers to be particularly important, such as call, phonebook management, and wireless payment Security features can be set only for some unit functions, such as.

 As described above, there may be various internal implementation methods when the registrant sets a security function.However, as a basic method, the unit functions such as inquiry of call list, reception, outgoing call, wireless payment, and phone book when the mobile communication device is manufactured. By assigning a unique code to each unique code, you can set a specific value for this unique code, so that you can control whether the security function is executed. For example, the initial value is set in the unique code, and when the initial value is recognized, the security function is executed to basically execute the security function in all the unit functions. However, to control this, only the unique code of the unit function for which the security function is to be set is left as an initial value, and the other unit functions are set to values other than the initial value.

In other words, in the production stage, the security function is automatically set to all the unit functions, and the registrant can freely release it later.

Therefore, when executing each unit function, it is possible to determine whether to execute the security function by placing the step of checking whether each unique code initial value is set first.

In step s24, it is possible to determine whether to run the security function immediately after executing the unit function or to allow a certain grace time to run the security function. The reason for such a function is to reduce the inconvenience that the registrant has to go through a user authentication procedure every time when the registrant wants to use the portable communication device after using one unit function. For example, if the grace time is set to 30 minutes in step s241, the mobile communication device registrant may continue to use the mobile communication device within 30 minutes after the last use of the mobile communication device without additional user authentication procedure. In other words, if there is no use of the mobile communication device within 30 minutes, the security function is activated, and the user can pass the user authentication process to use the mobile communication device again. If the registrant does not make this setting, the grace time will be left at the initial value.

If the grace time is set in the above step, the timer is immediately driven (S242).

In step s25, the number of inconsistencies can be set.If the authentication key mismatch continues for a certain number of times, it is regarded as an authentication attempt by another person and automatically notified to the registration destination or the control unit is completely blocked or an alarm is sounded so that the mobile communication device can no longer be used. This is to allow branching to routines that can take emergency measures.

This is because if the registrant does not specify the number of inconsistencies, the authentication procedure may be infinitely repeated if the authentication key values do not match, which is vulnerable to hacking.

Internally, the user can specify whether to set this function and the variable to save the set number of times separately, or add 1 to the value of the variable to save the set number of times and execute the emergency processing routine when the value is subtracted by 1. You may.

3 shows an embodiment of a signal receiving processing procedure among the unit functions processed according to the present invention.

Receiving unit 52 receives a ring signal and caller information from the base station to recognize the start of the receiving function (s30). The ring signal reception is a condition for recognizing the start of a unit function called reception.

The unique code for the signal reception function is checked to determine whether a security function is set for the function (s31).

In step S32, it is determined whether a grace time is set before executing the security function, and if so, it is determined whether the time has elapsed (S321).

If the grace time has elapsed, authentication process must be performed again. If not, the function is executed immediately without authentication process.

In step s33, the control unit 1 blocks the user end function, that is, the caller information display function or the function that the user can answer the call. That is, data reception and related information storage, which are internal functions of the mobile communication device, not the user end function, should be performed normally. Only the user cannot access any information including caller information, and presses the 'call' button to receive a call or folder type portable communication The user's action of opening the device should be ignored.

In step s34, the user transmits the ring signal received from the base station through the ringer unit of the audio unit. This step is a procedure for providing essential information to inform the user that a signal is being received due to the passive nature of the signal receiving procedure.

At this time, the display unit of the mobile communication device displays a prompt message for security functions such as 'Please go through the authentication procedure' and 'Please enter the password' instead of the caller information (s35). .

In step S36, the user inputs the authentication value through the authentication value input unit 11 according to a predetermined authentication method to perform a user authentication procedure.

The authentication processing means 13 determines whether the authentication value input by the user in the above step matches the authentication key value stored in the ROM (S37).

If there is a match, the control unit 1 restores the user related function to display caller information and allow the user to receive a signal. If there is a mismatch, the authentication procedure (s35 to s37) must be repeated, but if the registrant has set the number of tolerates of inconsistency, it repeats only that number of times (s371 to s374).

In addition, if the authentication key mismatch is exceeded, the control unit 1 regards the authentication attempt by another person to automatically notify the registration destination or take emergency measures such as blocking the control unit completely or making an alarm so that the mobile communication device can no longer be used. It can be implemented to execute a routine that can be (s374).

After the call is over, if the security function grace time is set (s391), the timer is driven (s392), and the reception function can be used without re-authentication before the grace time elapses.

After the authentication procedure in the above, the receiving method may be a method of directly connecting to the caller and a method of pressing a specific button such as a call button once more, but after pressing a specific button such as a call button once more Making a call available will be effective in considering the user's preference for a call that they do not want to or want to call later. In addition, if there are two or more display units inside and outside on the mobile communication device, after the authentication process, the display unit for displaying the caller information such as the caller's telephone number is limited to only some display units through the preliminary function limitation (aka, 'receive communication'). You can also set it.

As described above, the call reception function of the unit function of the portable communication device has been described as an example. When using other unit functions, only steps s33 and s38 are replaced with the corresponding functions, and the remaining steps are commonly applied.

In the case of a transmission function, when a user presses a phone number, the corresponding data is stored in the memory first, and when the user presses a key for transmitting a call such as 'call' or 'transmit', the information is transmitted to the base station.

However, in the present invention, when a specific operation that can be recognized as a start of a transmission function occurs, such as a numeric keypad being pressed or a key for transmitting a call intention such as a 'call' is displayed, only a guide for performing a security function is displayed. It is to prevent further work.

In this way, the security function is executed by recognizing the start of each unit function. When not using a portable communication device, basic information such as date and time is provided on the display unit. The procedure is carried out in the form of a message about the user and completely blocks the user.

According to the present invention, since the user's authentication key is set in the data ROM during the purchase and registration of the mobile communication device and the user authentication procedure is performed every time the unit function of the mobile communication device is used, The third party can not receive any information, including call transmission and reception and caller information, and various other functions are not available at all, so that the mobile communication device can be completely secured. In addition, when an authentication procedure error occurs more than a certain number of times, it is possible to effectively cope with the risk of loss and theft, such as controlling the use of the device no longer and contacting the registration office.

Therefore, if the mobile communication device according to the present invention is named and released as 'no touch', it is expected that the product can be greatly spotlighted in the market as a product that satisfies the consumer desire for a more complete security function.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a portable communication device to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which a user of a mobile communication device controls a security function through a security menu according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a signal receiving processing procedure among various unit functions executed according to the present invention.

<Description of Major Symbols in Drawing>

1 control unit 2 interface unit

7 input unit 8 display unit

10: authentication unit 11: authentication value input means

12: signal processing means 13: authentication processing means

14: data ROM 15: display processing unit

Claims (7)

In the user authentication method of a mobile communication device having an authentication unit for confirming whether the user is the same as the registered owner, 1) recognizing the start of the unit function (s30); 2) blocking the user side terminal function of the unit function (s33); 3) instructing the user to perform an authentication procedure (s35); 4) determining whether the authentication value input by the user matches the authentication key set in the data ROM during the registration process of the mobile communication device (s37); 5) if the authentication key does not match, repeating steps 3) to 4) of the authentication procedure; 6) if it matches with the authentication key, restoring the user side end function of the corresponding unit function (s38); Mobile communication device security method comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein before step 1) is performed. i) providing a menu for the user to select whether to set the security function for each unit function after the authentication procedure (s20 to s22) (s23); ii) further including a step (s231) of defining whether to set a security function by changing a unique code value for each unit function according to a user's selection; Between steps 1) and 2) 1a) determining whether a security function is set in the executed unit function through a unique code value (s31). According to claim 1, before performing step 1). i) providing a menu for limiting the number of mismatches to a predetermined number when determining whether the authentication keys are matched after passing through an authentication procedure (s20 to s22) (s25); ii) storing the number of inconsistency tolerances input by the user (s251); In step 5) 5a) in the case of an authentication key mismatch, determining whether the number of mismatch tolerances is set; 5b) if it is set, determining whether the authentication key mismatch has been repeated for the set number of times (s372 to s373), and if so, executing a predetermined emergency processing routine (s374); Mobile communication device security method comprising a further. According to claim 1, before performing step 1). i) providing a menu for allowing a security function operation grace time to pass after the authentication procedure (s20 to s22) (s24); ii) storing a grace time input by the user in the step (s241); iii) driving a timer for checking that the grace time stored in the step has elapsed (s242); Contains more Between steps 1) and 2) 1a) determining whether a grace time has been set (s32), and if so, determining whether the grace time has elapsed (s321); 1b) if the grace time has not elapsed in the step, executing the unit function immediately without an authentication procedure; After step 6) 6a) determining whether a grace time is set (s391), and if so, driving (s392) a timer. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-side terminal function of step 2) includes a caller information display function including a caller's telephone number. The method of claim 1, wherein the unit function includes, in particular, a transmission function, a reception function, a credit card function, and a wireless payment function. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication unit uses one of a password method, a fingerprint recognition method, a voice recognition method, an iris recognition method, and a retina recognition method.