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AmazonGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Amazon patents phone setup that turns your camera into a security key

This patent describes a way to set up a phone to generate security codes by taking a picture of a special image shown on a screen. The system checks the photo to verify the phone is real, then sends a secret code to the phone so it can create one-time passwords for logging in.

Why it mattersIt offers a simpler way to add two-factor protection to accounts without needing a separate physical security key.

In the filing’s own words

In certain embodiments, a web services system receives a request to provision a device, such as a telephone, as an authentication device. The web services system initiates display of an image communicating a key to allow the telephone to capture the image and to send key information associated with the key. The web services system receives the key and determines that the key information is valid. In response to the determination, the web services system sends a seed to the telephone to provision the telephone to be an authentication device. The telephone can use the seed to generate one-time passcodes to access a service of the web services system.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: validating an authentication application based at least in part on a passcode generated based at least in part on first authentication information matching second authentication information, the first authentication information obtained based at least in part on an image displayed on a computing device; generating another image to be displayed on the computing device; and obtaining a response from a device generated based at least in part on: the first authentication information, and a challenge code to verify the device to perform one or more operations, the challenge code determined based at least in part on the another image.

Facts

Company
Amazon (Amazon Technologies, Inc.)
Official title
Provisioning a device to be an authentication device
Patent number
US12756702B1
Application number
18787668
Filed
Jul 29, 2024
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

H04L 63/0838 Electricity & electronicsG06F 21/35 Physics & computingG06F 21/36 Physics & computingH04L 9/3228 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/3234 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/3268 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.