Authentication system and method for operating an authentication system

Abstract

An authentication system for authenticating a human requester requesting a service, wherein the authentication system is configured to establish via a first and a second port of the authentication system an authentication communication channel comprising a first communication channel to the requester and a second communication channel to a human authenticator, such that at least one of an audio stream of a voice of the requester, a video stream of a face of the requester and a 3D-data stream of the face of the requester is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and the end node device of the authenticator; and to record a confirmation message of the authenticator, wherein the confirmation message confirms or rejects at least one of the claimed identity and the requested service.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An authentication system for authenticating a human requester requesting a service, the authentication system comprising:
 a first port, configured such that a first communication channel is establishable via an end node device of the requester and a communication link between the first port and the end node device of the requester;   a second port, configured such that a second communication channel is establishable via an end node device of a human authenticator and a communication link between the second port and the end node device of the authenticator; and   a storage device configured to store a plurality of contact data entries;   wherein the authentication system is configured   to record an identity claimed by the requester and a service requested by the requester;   to select from the plurality of contact data entries a contact data entry of the end node device of the authenticator;   to establish the second communication channel depending on the selected contact data entry;   to establish via the first and the second port an authentication communication channel comprising the first communication channel and the second communication channel such that at least one of an audio stream of a voice of the requester, a video stream of a face of the requester and a 3D-data stream of the face of the requester is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and the end node device of the authenticator; and   to record a confirmation message of the authenticator, wherein the confirmation message confirms or rejects at least one of the claimed identity and the requested service.   
     
     
         2 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage device is configured to store a plurality of contact data entries of a plurality of human authenticators, a plurality of identities of potential human requesters and authorization data;
 wherein for each of the plurality of authenticators, the authorization data assign to the respective authenticator one or more of the identities of the potential requesters, which the respective authenticator is authorized to authenticate.   
     
     
         3 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the contact data entry comprises identifying one or more authenticators from a plurality of human authenticators, such that for each of the identified authenticators, there is a personal relationship between the requester and the respective identified authenticator. 
     
     
         4 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the contact data entry comprises identifying one or more authenticators from a plurality of human authenticators wherein each of the identified authenticators is authorized to authenticate the claimed identity. 
     
     
         5 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication communication channel is configured such that the authentication communication channel allows the authenticator to at least one of listen to a voice of the requester and watch the face of the requester. 
     
     
         6 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to establish, in response to the requesting of the service, the first communication channel to the requester. 
     
     
         7 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to establish at least one of the first communication channel and the second communication channel such that a security level of the authentication communication channel meets a predefined security criterion. 
     
     
         8 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to select at least one of a contact data entry of the end node device of the requester and the contact data entry of the end node device of the authenticator such that a security level of the authentication communication channel meets a predefined security criterion. 
     
     
         9 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to select the contact data entry of the end node device of the authenticator depending on the claimed identity. 
     
     
         10 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is further configured to establish at least one further communication channel to at least one further human authenticator such that at least one of a further audio stream of the voice of the requester, a further video stream of the face of the requester and a further 3D-data stream of the face of the requester is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and an end node device of the further authenticator. 
     
     
         11 . The authentication system of  claim 10 , wherein the authentication system is further configured to determine a number of the at least one further authenticator such that a security level of the authentication meets a predefined authentication security criterion. 
     
     
         12 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to analyze the at least one of the audio stream, the video stream and the 3D-data stream to extract characteristics, which correspond to at least one of the requester, the authenticator and a combination of the requester and the authenticator. 
     
     
         13 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication communication channel is configured such that an audio stream is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and the end node device of the authenticator;
 wherein the authentication system further comprises a filter, which is configured to check the audio stream for a two-way conversation between the requester and the authenticator.   
     
     
         14 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured
 to assign each of the first communication channel and the second communication channel to one of a group of predefined security classes; and   to determine a security level of the authentication communication channel, wherein the security level of the authentication communication channel depends on whether or not the security class of the first communication channel and the security class of the second communication channel are different.   
     
     
         15 . The authentication system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the authentication system is configured to establish the first communication channel, wherein the establishing of the first communication channel comprises waiting a first random delay time before contacting the end node device of the requester; and/or   wherein the establishing of the second communication channel comprises waiting a second random delay time before contacting the end node device of the authenticator.   
     
     
         16 . The authentication system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the authentication system is configured to establish the first communication channel depending on the claimed identity, wherein the establishing of the first communication channel comprises randomly selecting a contact data entry of the end node device of the requester from a first subset of the plurality of contact data entries; and/or   wherein the establishing of the second communication channel comprises randomly selecting a contact data entry of the end node device of the authenticator from a second subset of the plurality of contact data entries.   
     
     
         17 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is configured to randomly select a selection algorithm from a plurality of selection algorithms, each of which configured to perform at least one of the selecting of a contact data entry of the end node device of the authenticator and a selecting of a contact data entry of the end node device of the requester. 
     
     
         18 . The authentication system of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication system is further configured
 to transmit, in response to a status change of the authenticating of the requester, a status update to the requester via the first communication channel; and   to wait a random delay time between the status change and the transmitting of the status update.   
     
     
         19 . A method of authenticating a human requester requesting a service using an authentication system and a first communication channel, wherein the first communication channel comprises an end node device of the requester and a communication link between a first port of the authentication system and the end node device of the requester, the method comprising:
 recording an identity claimed by the requester and a service requested by the requester;   selecting from a plurality of contact data entries stored on a storage device of the authentication system a contact data entry of an end node device of a human authenticator;   establishing a second communication channel via the end node device of the authenticator and a communication link between a second port of the authentication system and the end node device of the authenticator depending on the selected contact data entry;   establishing via the first and the second port an authentication communication channel comprising the first communication channel and the second communication channel such that at least one of an audio stream of a voice of the requester, a video stream of a face of the requester and a 3D-data stream of the face of the requester is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and the end node device of the authenticator; and   recording a confirmation message of the authenticator, wherein the confirmation message confirms or rejects at least one of the claimed identity and the requested service.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , further comprising storing on a storage device a plurality of contact data entries of a plurality of human authenticators, a plurality of identities of potential human requesters and authorization data;
 wherein the authorization data assign to each of the plurality of authenticators one or more of the identities of the potential requesters, which the respective authenticator is authorized to authenticate.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the authentication communication channel is configured such that the authentication communication channel allows the authenticator to at least one of listen to a voice of the requester and watch the face of the requester. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the selecting of the contact data entry comprises identifying one or more authenticators from a plurality of human authenticators, wherein the identified authenticators are authorized to authenticate the claimed identity. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the selecting of the contact data entry comprises identifying one or more authenticators from a plurality of human authenticators, wherein for each of the identified authenticators, there is a personal relationship between the requester and the respective identified authenticator. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising establishing the first communication channel via the end node device of the requester and the communication link between the first port of the authentication system and the end node device of the requester. 
     
     
         25 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of authenticating a human requester requesting a service using an authentication system and a first communication channel, wherein the first communication channel comprises an end node device of the requester and a communication link between a first port of the authentication system and the end node device of the requester, the method comprising:
 recording an identity claimed by the requester and a service requested by the requester;   selecting from a plurality of contact data entries stored on a storage device of the authentication system a contact data entry of an end node device of a human authenticator;   establishing a second communication channel via the end node device of the authenticator and a communication link between a second port of the authentication system and the end node device of the authenticator depending on the selected contact data entry;   establishing via the first and the second port an authentication communication channel comprising the first communication channel and the second communication channel such that at least one of an audio stream of a voice of the requester, a video stream of a face of the requester and a 3D-data stream of the face of the requester is transmittable between the end node device of the requester and the end node device of the authenticator; and   recording a confirmation message of the authenticator, wherein the confirmation message confirms or rejects at least one of the claimed identity and the requested service.