Mobile device to provide enhanced security based upon contextual sensor inputs

Abstract

Disclosed is a mobile device to provide enhanced security based upon contextual sensor inputs. The mobile device may include: a biometric sensor; a contextual sensor; and a processor. The processor may be configured to: determine an authentication score based upon a biometric input received from the biometric sensor; modulate the authentication score based upon a contextual sensor input from the contextual sensor related to an event; and determine if the modulated authentication score falls below a predetermined threshold. If the authentication score falls below the predetermined threshold, the processor may command that a secondary authentication be performed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A mobile device comprising:
 a biometric sensor;   a contextual sensor; and   a processor configured to:
 determine an authentication score based upon a biometric input received from the biometric sensor; 
 modulate the authentication score based upon a contextual sensor input received from the contextual sensor related to an event; and 
 determine if the modulated authentication score falls below a predetermined threshold, and if so, commanding secondary authentication. 
   
     
     
         2 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein, if the modulated authentication score falls below the predetermined threshold, further comprising, disabling the mobile device. 
     
     
         3 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a soft biometric sensor configured to monitor a plurality of different types of biometric inputs. 
     
     
         4 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a hard biometric sensor configured to only monitor a particular biometric input. 
     
     
         5 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein, the contextual sensor input includes at least one of location, movement, or user input. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein, the processor is further configured to:
 receive contextual sensor input from a contextual sensor of a paired device; and   modulate the authentication score based upon the contextual sensor input from the contextual sensor of the paired device.   
     
     
         7 . The mobile device of  claim 6 , wherein, the processor is further configured to disable the mobile device based upon a disable command received from the paired device. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 determining an authentication score based upon a biometric input received from a biometric sensor;   modulating the authentication score based upon a contextual sensor input received from a contextual sensor related to an event; and   determining if the modulated authentication score falls below a predetermined threshold, and if so, commanding secondary authentication.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein, if the modulated authentication score falls below the predetermined threshold, further comprising, disabling the mobile device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a soft biometric sensor configured to monitor a plurality of different types of biometric inputs. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a hard biometric sensor configured to only monitor a particular biometric input. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein, the contextual sensor input includes at least one of location, movement, or user input. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 receiving contextual sensor input from a contextual sensor of a paired device; and   modulating the authentication score based upon the contextual sensor input from the contextual sensor of the paired device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, disabling the mobile device based upon a disable command received from the paired device. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including code that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
 determine an authentication score based upon a biometric input received from a biometric sensor;   modulate the authentication score based upon a contextual sensor input received from a contextual sensor related to an event; and   determine if the modulated authentication score falls below a predetermined threshold, and if so, commanding secondary authentication.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein, if the modulated authentication score falls below the predetermined threshold, further comprising code for disabling the mobile device. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a soft biometric sensor configured to monitor a plurality of different types of biometric inputs. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein, the biometric sensor is a hard biometric sensor configured to only monitor a particular biometric input. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein, the contextual sensor input includes at least one of location, movement, or user input. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising code for:
 receiving contextual sensor input from a contextual sensor of a paired device; and   modulating the authentication score based upon the contextual sensor input from the contextual sensor of the paired device.   
     
     
         21 . A mobile device comprising:
 means for determining an authentication score based upon a biometric input received from a biometric sensor;   means for modulating the authentication score based upon a contextual sensor input received from a contextual sensor related to an event; and   means for determining if the modulated authentication score falls below a predetermined threshold, and if so, commanding secondary authentication.   
     
     
         22 . The mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein, if the modulated authentication score falls below the predetermined threshold, further comprising means for disabling the mobile device. 
     
     
         23 . The mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein, the biometric template destroyed is a fingerprint biometric template for a hard fingerprint sensor. 
     
     
         24 . The mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein, the contextual sensor input includes at least one of location, movement, or user input.