Patent ID: 8918851
Filing Date: 2014-12-23
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An authentication system that validates a user's authority to access a computing device, enter an on-line environment, carry out a commercial transaction or gain admittance to a physically protected asset through the administration of an authentication challenge that relies on an arrangement of positions defined in a matrix to specify the order in which a corresponding set of images are assigned for presentation to the user through a selection mechanism and to then determine which images are being selected based on the relative alignment of their representational positions after being repositioned by the user in some prescribed manner thus allowing the system to perform its authentication functions without having to explicitly reference, process, transmit or store any specific image identifiers, display coordinates or file designators that could, if compromised, expose the proprietary images chosen by the user for the purpose of their authentication, as comprised of the following: a. means for utilizing an arrangement of positions defined through a configurable matrix to specify the order in which a set of images, extracted from a file structure where they are stored, are assigned for presentation to a user through a selection mechanism during the administration of an authentication challenge and to subsequently track, transmit, process, store and validate the images selected by the user for the purpose of their authentication based on the representational positions associated with the images thus avoiding the need of having to explicitly reference any specific image identifiers or display coordinates that could otherwise expose the user's selection of images; b. means for storing a set of digitally rendered images as consecutive frames in a file structure and subsequently addressing the images for extraction and presentation to a user through a selection mechanism during the administration of an authentication challenge based on the consecutive order in which the image frames are stored and the sequence with which the images are addressed for extraction and assigned to their corresponding positions as defined through a correlated matrix thus allowing the system to address and present the images based on the arrangement of their corresponding frame positions in the file structure rather than through the explicit referencing of any specific image identifiers or file designators that could otherwise expose the images being presented to or selected by the user for the purpose of their authentication; c. means for addressing and displaying two or more sets of digitally rendered images in a mutually parallel arrangement through a selection mechanism based on the sequence with which the images are extracted from the file structure where they are stored and the order in which the images are assigned to their corresponding positions as defined by their arrangement in a correlated matrix thus allowing the system to present the images during the administration of an authentication challenge without having to maintain or process any explicit references to any specific image identifiers, associated display coordinates or file designators that could otherwise expose the images selected by the user for the purpose of their authentication; d. means for eliciting a user's selection of images during the administration of an authentication challenge, by requiring the user to realign, in some prescribed manner, two or more sets of images that have been presented in a mutually parallel arrangement through a selection mechanism, for the purpose of identifying the images required to validate the user's right of access or verify their identity without having to overtly select the images through a visibly observable or programmatically traceable selection point or display coordinate and which relies on the concurrent alignment of the surrounding collateral images to serve as decoys that obfuscate the user's selections of images from observation or interception by an interloper or monitoring program; e. means for acquiring a positional representation of the images selected by a user for the purpose of validating their right of access or verifying their identity during an authentication challenge by monitoring the initial positions of two or more sets of images that have been presented in a mutually parallel arrangement through a selection mechanism and then utilizing the offset in alignment between one of the sets of images and another, after being repositioned by the user in some prescribed manner, as the metric for processing and conveying the user's selection of images rather than relying on the explicit referencing or transmission of any specific image identifiers or associated display coordinates that could otherwise reveal the images chosen by the user for the purpose of their authentication; f. means for determining the range of positions associated with the images selected by a user for the purpose of validating their right of access or establishing their identity during an authentication challenge by utilizing the arrangement of positions in a matrix to replicate the order in which a corresponding set of images have been presented to the user through a selection mechanism and then applying an offset between the positions associated with one set of images and another, as reflected by the user's realignment of the images in some prescribed manner, to track the images chosen by the user thus obviating the need of having to explicitly reference any specific image identifiers or associated display coordinates that could otherwise reveal the images chosen by the user for the purpose of their authentication; g. means for determining the precise positions associated with the images chosen by a user for the purpose of their authentication during an enrollment process and subsequent authentication challenge by utilizing a comparator mechanism to analyze the range of positions associated with the images aligned by the user in some prescribed manner through a selection mechanism and then eliminating all but those positions that are consistently aligned over a sufficient number of successive iterations to be deemed adequate for authenticating the user thus obviating the need of having to explicitly reference any specific image identifiers or associated display coordinates that could otherwise reveal the images chosen by the user for the purpose of their authentication; h. means for storing and retrieving positional representations of the images chosen by a user for the purpose of their authentication during an enrollment for an authentication challenge by utilizing the positions associated with the images as defined by their arrangement in a correlated matrix, that have been consistently aligned by the user in some prescribed manner through a selection mechanism over a sufficient number of successive iterations, thus allowing the system to authenticate the user based on the positions associated with the images they have chosen rather than through the explicit referencing of any specific image identifiers or associated display coordinates that could otherwise reveal the images chosen by the user for the purpose of their authentication; i. means for determining whether a user has successfully identified the images required to validate their right of access or establish their identity during an authentication challenge by utilizing a comparator mechanism to compare the positions associated with the images chosen by the user during their enrollment, as defined by their arrangement in a correlated matrix, with the positions associated with the images aligned by the user in some prescribed manner through a selection mechanism during a subsequent authentication challenge thus allowing the system to authenticate the user based on the representational positions associated with images they have chosen rather than through the explicit referencing of any specific image identifiers or associated display coordinates.