Patent ID: 8504831

Claim:
A method for authenticating a user, the method comprising: responsive to receiving, at an authentication server, an authentication request from a device, determining a confidence level for the authentication request, wherein determining the confidence level includes consideration of a confidence modifier from an external source, the confidence modifier being selected from a group of confidence modifiers consisting of: a user behavior pattern; a location received from a previous device to which the user was previously authenticated by the authentication server; a location received from a tracking system; a location received from a social networking platform; a location of a previous device; a location of a current device to which the user has been authenticated by the authentication server, the current device being different from the device; a characteristic of an area surrounding a previous device to which the user was previously authenticated; a characteristic of an area surrounding the device; a report of fraudulent activity at a location in which the device is located; a reported quality of a connection between a user device to which the user has been authenticated by the authentication server and a wireless telecommunications network; a time since the user was authenticated on a previous device; a time since the user logged off a previous device; a distance from a previous device to which the user was previously authenticated by the authentication server to the device; a probability that the user could travel from a previous device to the device; a calendar entry associated with a calendar maintained by or for the user, the calendar entry identifying an intended location of the user and a corresponding time the user is expected to be at the intended location; a purchasing history of the user; a marketing datum associated with the user; and a combination of at least two of the modifiers in the group; generating, at the authentication server, a confidence-weighted challenge in response to the authentication request, the confidence-weighted challenge being weighted based upon the confidence level; responsive to receiving, at the authentication server, a challenge response to the confidence-weighted challenge from the device, determining whether to authenticate the user based upon the challenge response; if the authentication server determines the challenge response satisfies an expected response known to the authentication server, the authentication server permitting authentication of the user; and if the authentication server determines the challenge response does not satisfy the expected response known to the authentication server, the authentication server denying authentication of the user.