Method and apparatus for protecting identities of mobile devices on a wireless network
A method and apparatus for protecting the identities of mobile devices on a wireless network are described. A proxy gateway couples the wireless network to a wired network and maintains data associating a set of service initiators with a set of cryptographic keys. Upon receiving a request from a mobile client device directed to an origin server on the wired network, the proxy gateway identifies the cryptographic key for that origin server and sends to the origin server a proxy request. The proxy request includes an identifier of the mobile device, encrypted using the cryptographic key. When the proxy gateway receives a request from a service initiator on the wired network to push information to a mobile device, it uses the cryptographic key for that service initiator to decode a client identifier in the request and thereby determine whether the request is valid.
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This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/866,037, filed on May 24, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention pertains to the internetworking of computers, communication devices, and other processing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to protecting the identities of mobile devices on a wireless network having access to a wired network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Present technology allows mobile devices operating on wireless networks to access information stored on a separate, wired network, such as the Internet.
The proxy gateway 4 uses well-known techniques to enable communication between the mobile devices 1 and a number (M) of processing systems 5-1 through 5-M operating on the wired network 3. The physical computing platforms which embody the proxy gateway 4 and processing systems 5 may include, for example, conventional personal computers (PCs) and/or server-class computer systems. Among other operations, the proxy gateway 4 may convert/translate between the languages and protocols used by processing systems 5, such as hypertext markup Language (HTML) and hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), and the languages and protocols used by the mobile devices 1, such as wireless markup language (WML) and wireless access protocol (WAP). Accordingly, in one embodiment the proxy gateway 4 operates as a proxy for transmitting various requests on behalf of the mobile devices 1 and the processing devices 5, as described further below. An example of a device which can serve as the proxy gateway 4 is the UP.Link Server, from Openwave Systems of Redwood City, Calif. Note that while proxy gateway 4 is shown as a single entity, the proxy and gateway functions can be distributed between separate physical platforms. Furthermore, both functions do not necessarily have to be used in a given network environment.
Processing systems 5 include one or more “origin servers” (e.g., 5-1) and one or more “service initiators” (e.g., 5-M). Origin servers provide content, such as hypermedia documents, to mobile devices 1 in response to standard (e.g., HTTP) requests from the mobile devices 1. Service initiators “push” content to the mobile devices 1, i.e., they send content to the mobile devices 1 without the content having been explicitly requested by the mobile devices 1. Note that an origin server and a service initiator may be implemented within the same computing platform and are often implemented within a single network domain.
One problem associated with a network environment such as this is that data identifying each of the mobile devices 1 is commonly distributed to many other processing systems, such as processing systems 5 on the wired network 3. This identification data can be used for a variety of purposes, some of which are undesirable for the users of the mobile devices.
When a mobile device (a “client”) makes a request for content via the proxy gateway 4, the proxy gateway 4 may add identification data to the meta-data (e.g., HTTP request headers) of that request, which is passed on to the origin server 5, as shown in
The client identity information may be used in a number of legitimate ways, such as: to allow devices responding to requests to authenticate the requesting mobile devices; to track the devices' requests and develop client profiles on an origin server; to tailor a response to the request and to the identity of the client; to allow access for services that make subsequent requests to the client, such as the “Posting” of documents or WAP push requests; or, to allow the client to be accessed by another communication medium, such as a short message service (SMS) message or a telephone call. Thus, the client identity passed as part of a pull request may be subsequently used in a push scenario to gain access to the client via a service proxy or gateway.
The problem is that the same identity is normally given to all servers, regardless of the intended use of the service. As a result, the client is made vulnerable in several ways. For example, disclosure of the client identity allows unsolicited access to be made to the client, such as in the form of phone calls, SMS messages, or WAP push requests, without prior authorization being given for those services. This situation is illustrated in
One attempt at solving this privacy problem is the use of pseudonyms. The pseudonym approach works by encrypting the client information at the source. However, this technique does not account for cases in which client identity information is added by network elements along the path of the request. In addition, only a single pseudonym is in operation at any one time, such that a client identity cannot be encrypted on a per-URI (uniform resource identifier) basis. In addition, the pseudonym technique is not designed to regulate any form of push service.
Another partial solution to the privacy problem is known as Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P). According to this approach, a P3P client negotiates the release of personal data with the origin server prior to completing a request. The privacy policy acceptable to the client and the privacy policy of the server are both expressed in schema defined by the P3P group within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This approach, however, does not prevent a client's identity from being communicated to an origin server. In addition, as with pseudonyms, there is no way to regulate a service which may initiate a request toward the client.
What is needed, therefore, is a solution which overcomes these and other shortcomings of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention includes a method and apparatus for operating a processing system on a network. In the processing system, an identifier of a mobile device on a wireless network is encrypted, and used to validate a request from a service initiator directed to the mobile device.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:
A method and apparatus for protecting the identities of mobile devices on a wireless network are described. Note that in this description, references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” mean that the feature being referred to is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Further, separate references to “one embodiment” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment; however, neither are such embodiments mutually exclusive, unless so stated and except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention can include any variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
As noted above, one problem with the prior art is that the client identity passed as part of a pull request may be subsequently used for undesirable and/or unauthorized purposes. The solution described herein protects the identities of the mobile devices to prevent that from occurring. Among other advantages, the described solution allows the regulation of unauthorized and or unsolicited push services directed to the mobile devices. Further, push services can be regulated on a per-URI basis.
The solution described herein includes hashing the client identity data on each client request on a per-URI basis. This solution may be implemented within a network environment such as shown in
For example, as shown in
This technique is further illustrated in
Thus, in the push scenario, the client identity is used as the rendezvous identity for services making request to clients. Note that the true (unencrypted) client identity of each mobile device 1 may be stored in any of a number of possible locations, such as in the proxy gateway 34 and/or the service proxy gateway 35, in the mobile device 1, or elsewhere on the network. Also, note that proxy gateway 34 and the service proxy gateway 35 can be implemented within the same physical platform and may even be the same device.
Referring still to
There are various types of client identifiers, derived from the mobile device, the network, or the proxy gateways, which may be encoded in this way prior to release to origin servers or service initiators. For example, the client identifier may be an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI), an electronic serial number (ESN), a mobile services ISDN number (MSISDN), a mobile identity number (MIN), or an Internet protocol (IP) address version 4 (IPv4) or version 6 (IPv6). Alternatively, the client identifier may be a unique alphanumeric subscriber identifier formed by using the server operator's internal account number of the subscriber, or formed by combining provisioning data, user data, and naming authority domain (e.g., “alice _mag01@csp.com”).
As noted above, a service initiator and an origin server may be associated together in the proxy gateway's white list, along with the corresponding cryptographic key. An example of how such a white list may appear in a proxy gateway is set forth in the following table:
Multiple domains used in the pull environment can be linked to a single service initiator, as shown. As each pull request is made, the key hashes the subscriber number. If there is no key (i.e., the key is “0”), the client identity is transmitted to the origin server in clear text; this approach maintains backward compatibility and enables operation in a trusted manner inside the gateway operator's domain.
On receipt of a request from a service initiator, the service proxy gateway 35 will verify the domain of the service initiator against the white list. Once a valid entry has been determined, the gateway will use the key associated with the entry to decrypt the service rendezvous identity and compare it to the target client's true identity to decide whether to proceed with the request. If a decryption fails, the service initiator is informed in the response that the identifier supplied in the request was unrecognized. Note that the encrypted identity should be logged with all events generated by the proxy gateway at the same points as the clear text identity is logged for a transaction.
The hashing algorithm used to encode and decode the client identity is symmetric. That is, the same key is used for encryption and decryption for a given client and URI. A simple addition algorithm may be used. Examples of suitable algorithms include: the Kerberos authentication system, International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), and Data Encryption Standard (DES). The key should be chosen to be approximately the same length has the client identity to be encrypted. Thus, IDEA and DES are examples of block cipher algorithms in which the entity being encrypted and the key material (perhaps 128 bits in length) are both divided into blocks of 16 bits (two bytes) and exclusive-OR'ed (XOR'ed) together. Two sites communicating with the same client should not be able to determine that it corresponds to the same user.
Consider the following example. Assume that a user of a mobile device, Alice, which is provisioned on a proxy gateway designated “magXYZ” in the communication service provider's domain, tries to access the URI, www.yahoo.com. Assume further that this URI has the key, 123456789123456789, or 0xACD05F15 in hexadecimal (“hex”) (where the “0x” denotes hex), as assigned in the above-described white list table. The unencrypted client identifier may be, for example, Alice _mag@csp.com. Hence, a standard pull request from Alice's mobile device based on HTTP version 1.1 may appear as follows:
-
- GET http://www.yahoo.com/ HTTP/1.1
- Accept: application/vnd.wap.wmlc
- Request proxied from MAG/EFS
- GET http://www.yahoo.com/ HTTP/1.1
- Accept: application/vnd.wap.wmlc
- x-up-subno: ‘0xEEBE3676098F31740BA43A661AFE307A’
The encrypted client identifier in this example is 0xEEBE3676098F31740BA43A661AFE307A, which appears after the “x-up-subno:” header in the last line of the request. The encoding breakdown for the encrypted identifier is as follows:
-
- “Al” XOR 0xACD0=0xEEBE
- “ic” XOR 0x5F15=0x3676
- “e_” XOR 0xACD0=0xC98F
- “ma” XOR 0x5F15=0x3174
- “g@” XOR 0xACD0=0xCBA4
- “cs” XOR 0x5F15=0x3A66
- “p.” XOR 0xACD0=0xDAFE
- “co” XOR 0x5F15=0x3C7A
- “m” XOR 0xACD0=0xC1
For each client identifier that is to be protected in this manner, the symmetric encoding is applied. In the push scenario, when the client identifier 0xEEBE3676098F31740BA43A661AFE307A is used as a push address, an identical XOR function is applied using the same key, 0xACD05F15, such that the original client identifier is generated. For example, 0xEEBE XOR 0xACD0 produces ASCII code “A”+ASCII code “I”.
An example of such a push request based on HTTP version 1.1 is as follows:
As shown, the push identifier is the encoded client identifier. During processing by the proxy gateway, the source of the push request is looked up in the white list table, and the key is extracted and applied again to decode the identifier to the true/original subscriber identifier.
As noted above, various types of processing systems may be used to implement the operations described herein, such as PCs, server-class computers, or (particularly in the case of mobile devices) cellular telephones, PDAs, two-way pagers, etc.
The illustrated processing system includes one or more processors 71, i.e., a central processing unit (CPU), read-only memory (ROM) 72, random access memory (RAM) 73, and a mass storage device 74, coupled to each other on a bus system 78. The bus system 78 may include one or more buses connected to each other through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters, such as are well-known in the art. For example, the bus system 78 may include a “system bus”, which may be connected through an adapter to one or more expansion buses, such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. Also coupled to the bus system 78 are a mass storage device 74, one or more input/output (I/O) devices 75-1 through 75-N, and one or more data communication devices 76 and 79, to communicate with remote processing systems via one or more communication links 77 and 80, respectively. Note that a server would not necessarily require I/O devices 75 in addition to the data communication device. The I/O devices 75 could include, for example, any one or more of: a display device, a keyboard, a pointing device (e.g., mouse, trackball, or touchpad), or an audio speaker.
The processor(s) 71 may be, or may include, for example, one or more conventional general-purpose or special-purpose programmable microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or programmable logic devices (PLDs), or a combination of such devices. The mass storage device 74 may be, or may include, any one or more devices suitable for storing large volumes of data in a non-volatile manner, such as a magnetic disk or tape, magneto-optical (MO) storage device, or any of various types of Digital Video Disk (DVD) or Compact Disk (CD) based storage, or a combination of such devices.
The data communication devices 76 and 79 may be any devices suitable for enabling the processing system to communicate data with a remote processing system over a data communication link, such as a wireless transceiver (e.g., if implemented in a mobile device), a conventional telephone modem, a wireless modem, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) adapter, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem, a cable modem, a satellite transceiver, an Ethernet adapter, or the like. At least one of communication links 77 and 80 may be a wireless link, such as to provide the connection between mobile devices 1 and wireless network 2 in
Note that while
It will be recognized that many of the features and techniques described above may be implemented in software. That is, the described operations may be carried out in a processing system in response to its processor(s) executing sequences of instructions contained in memory. The instructions may be executed from a memory such as RAM 73 and may be loaded from a persistent store, such as a mass storage device 74 and/or from one or more other remote processing systems. Likewise, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of software, or in combination with software, to implement the features described herein. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source of software executed by the processing systems.
Thus, a method and apparatus for protecting the identities of mobile devices on a wireless network have been described. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
Claims
1. A method of operating a processing system on a network, the method comprising:
- encrypting an identifier of a mobile device on a wireless network; and
- using the encrypted identifier to validate a request from a service initiator directed to the mobile device.
2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising maintaining a different cryptographic key for each of a plurality of service initiators.
3. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising using the same cryptographic key for each service initiator in a second plurality of service initiators.
4. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said encrypting comprises selecting and using one of the cryptographic keys to encrypt the identifier, the method further comprising including the encrypted identifier in a request to a remote processing system, based on a request from the mobile device.
5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said using the encrypted identifier to validate a request from a service initiator comprises selecting and using one of the cryptographic keys associated with said service initiator to validate the request.
6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein said method is performed by a proxy server connected to the wireless network and to a wired network including the service initiator.
7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said encrypting comprises:
- hashing the identifier with a cryptographic key; and
- including the encrypted identifier in a proxy request to a remote processing system based on an initial request received from the mobile device.
8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein said using the encrypted identifier to validate a request from a service initiator comprises using the cryptographic key to decrypt an identifier included in the request from the service initiator; and
- determining whether the identifier in the request from the service initiator corresponds to the mobile device.
9. A method of operating a processing system on a network, the method comprising:
- encrypting an identifier of a mobile device on a wireless network;
- including the encrypted identifier in a proxy request to a remote processing system on a network, based on a request from the mobile device; and
- using the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests by a plurality of remote processing systems on the network to provide information to the mobile device.
10. A method as recited in claim 9, further comprising maintaining a different cryptographic key for each of the plurality of remote processing systems.
11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said using the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests comprises, for each said request by a remote processing system, using one of the cryptographic keys corresponding to the remote processing system to validate the request.
12. A method of operating a proxy on a network, the method comprising:
- storing an association of service providers and cryptographic keys;
- receiving a request from a mobile device, the request directed to a remote server on the network;
- using the stored association to identify a cryptographic key associated with the remote server;
- using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile device;
- incorporating the encoded identifier into a proxy request; and
- sending the proxy request to the remote server on behalf of the mobile device.
13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said storing an association of service providers and cryptographic keys comprises storing a unique cryptographic key for each of a plurality of service providers.
14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the stored association specifies a plurality of network addresses for at least one of the plurality of service providers, and wherein said using the stored association to identify a cryptographic key comprises identifying a cryptographic key associated with a network address to which the request is directed.
15. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile device comprises hashing the cryptographic key with the identifier of the mobile device.
16. A method of operating a proxy on a network, the method comprising:
- storing an association of service providers and cryptographic keys, including a plurality of cryptographic keys and one or more network addresses associated with each of the cryptographic keys;
- receiving a request from a mobile client device, the request directed to a network address representing a remote server on the network;
- using the stored association to identify a cryptographic key associated with the remote server;
- generating a proxy request based on the request received from the mobile client device, by using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile client device and incorporating the encoded identifier into the proxy request; and
- sending the proxy request to the remote server on behalf of the mobile client device.
17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein said using the identified cryptographic key to encode an identifier of the mobile client device comprises hashing the cryptographic key with the identifier of the mobile client device.
18. A processing system coupled to a wireless network and to a wired network, the processing system comprising:
- a processor; and
- a storage facility coupled to the processor and storing instructions which configure the processing system to: encrypt an identifier of a mobile device on the wireless network; include the encrypted identifier in a proxy request to a remote processing system on the wired network, based on a request from the mobile device; and use the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests by a plurality of remote processing systems on the wired network to provide information to the mobile device.
19. A processing system as recited in claim 18, wherein the processing system further stores a plurality of cryptographic keys, including a different cryptographic key for each of the plurality of remote processing systems.
20. A processing system as recited in claim 19, wherein said using the encrypted identifier to control handling of requests comprises, for each said request by a remote processing system, using one of the cryptographic keys corresponding to the remote processing system to validate the request.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 23, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 20, 2005
Applicant: Openwave Systems Inc. (Redwood City, CA)
Inventor: Fergus Wills (Belfast)
Application Number: 11/166,987