Patent ID: 11048790

Abstract:
The invention provides a solution for secure authentication of an individual. The invention comprises methods and apparatus for secure input of a user's identifier e.g. PIN. An image of a keypad is superimposed over an operable keypad within a display zone of a screen associated with an electronic device. The keypad image and/or the operable keypad are generated by the device using a scrambled or randomised keypad configuration generated on or at the electronic device. The configuration or order of keys depicted in the image may or may not be scrambled or randomised. Thus, the order of keys depicted in the image do not correspond to the order of the keys in the operable keypad, so that when the user selects a ‘key’ depicted in the image on the screen, the underlying operable keypad is caused to operate and an encoded version of the user's input is received into memory on the device. The encoded input can be sent for decoding on a remote computer. The keypad configurations used for generation of the operable keypad(s) and/or keypad image(s) are generated using an input. The input could be a true or pseudo random number or biometric data relating to a user of the device. The device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, laptop, PC, payment terminal or any other electronic computing device with a screen.