N1005 IBM Research: invention

Turning mobile security upside down

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hackers won’t know which way your passcode points with this patent</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwUJEtUZwxxAk8mddRmwjxPf1QXHPygFKhDYQP0HeqBYObw1enCGl2-bOAHVm64-rp7d49_2EhRWAN_fKfRoSxt2ni6WhpZEKPkoGm9YNtZPvTusR3EO2FPre8Yzumamq8A4goQNGOvaG/s1600/jkozloski.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwUJEtUZwxxAk8mddRmwjxPf1QXHPygFKhDYQP0HeqBYObw1enCGl2-bOAHVm64-rp7d49_2EhRWAN_fKfRoSxt2ni6WhpZEKPkoGm9YNtZPvTusR3EO2FPre8Yzumamq8A4goQNGOvaG/s1600/jkozloski.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By James Kozloski, Computational and Applied Neuroscience scientist, IBM Research</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How many numbers long is your smartphone’s log in passcode? The standard four digits? (If you don’t use a login password, you should!) Because my work email and calendar are on my phone, I have to enter an eight-digit code. Not a big deal until I’m trying to pay for coffee, and the barista asks me to rescan my bar-code, so I have to re-enter those eight digits again (and sometimes again) – with angry caffeine-deprived patrons in line behind me.</span><br /><a name="more"></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span> </div><div align="right"><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid white; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid white; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-left: right; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-overlap: never; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: .05pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">  <td style="border: solid white 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 2.5in;" valign="top" width="240"><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="color: grey; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My ideas for patents are often completely different and separate   from my day-to-day job in studying neuroscience. I actually spend most of my   time with healthcare clients working on neuro-degenerative diseases, deep   brain stimulation, and pharmaceuticals, trying to understand the relationship   between brain tissue and the functions that the brain implements, such as   behavior selection.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: grey; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think of patents this way: what are the systems and methods around   us that could be improved to solve a problem I’ve identified? So, even if I   don't have the specific technical expertise, I can explain how something should   work, and then seek out a colleague with the expertise to bring something to a   patentable stage.</span></div></td> </tr></tbody></table></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In commiserating about smartphone passcode follies with a colleague, we realized that alpha-numeric digits for a passcode could be reduced if coupled with an orientation, since adding orientation would actually change the probability that any one digit is actually the correct digit. Now, the question becomes: is the "2" right side up? Or is the "2" at a 90 degree angle? Just one digit has multiple possibilities.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You could say that patent <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US8832823">8,832,823</a>: “User access control based on handheld device orientation” came out of wanting to access my phone (and pay for coffee) faster!</span><br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Secure disorientation</span></b> </div><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Think of device orientation like a keyboard’s “shift” key. It gives the device a new set of bits to access without needing a new physical key or character to enter. But the orientation precision needed is no greater than what’s needed to rotate a device’s screen. Easier to manipulate than a sticky “shift” key, but still difficult to guess – even if you password is “password.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">More options. Fewer keystrokes!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPN6phGcDKQ5figBIXYHXO0RZRwC6QMRaczu03Js9p3XXZ2Tg9BpXAjZhlL6QvhvGYgS8I-9By-UP1s9_0DDVsoKB-JK7LigLoUbn3OifH8WmsomiLqqqYHoiCdXSq0de7sDpI0tlX8X9/s1600/jkoz_coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPN6phGcDKQ5figBIXYHXO0RZRwC6QMRaczu03Js9p3XXZ2Tg9BpXAjZhlL6QvhvGYgS8I-9By-UP1s9_0DDVsoKB-JK7LigLoUbn3OifH8WmsomiLqqqYHoiCdXSq0de7sDpI0tlX8X9/s1600/jkoz_coffee.jpg" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Turning your phone (or any mobile device with an accelerometer) as you enter a passcode is just one level of improved security. The patent also takes into account how to store the digits separately from the orientations. This means that even if your passcode is stolen (say from an online hack), your locally-stored orientations would prevent remote access. And vice versa, if your phone is stolen, there’s almost no chance the thief could replicate your “digit + orientation” passcode entry.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Connecting a device’s local orientation, or accele-metric component, with alphanumeric codes stored by a remote web-based service (such as a bank or online store) means any website that requires a password can use this invention. Then locally, your phone’s OS can determine the orientation of portrait or landscape for a key press (regardless of character identity), and verify that the key press order – plus orientation order – is valid. And just as different passcodes give you access to different websites, different orientation passcodes could give you access to different parts of your phone.</span> <span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, hopefully during a not-too-distant future stop for coffee, when I’m armed with a two-key orientation passcode – that only accesses a digital payment option (and not my work email) – I won’t drop my phone when I have to turn it upside down!</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">More about IBM's 2014 patent leadership</span> </b><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45793.wss" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">IBM sets patent record</span></a></li><li><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/patent-powers-cleaner-commute.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Patent powers a cleaner commute</span></a></li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibm.co/1yGZ5YR" target="_blank">A new generation of young inventors</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/validating-hack-free-web-experience.html" target="_blank">Validating a (hack-free) web experience</a> </span></li></ul></div>

Hackers won’t know which way your passcode points with this patent By James Kozloski, Computational and Applied Neuroscience scientist, IB...

Patent powers a cleaner commute

6:00 AM N1000 0

<div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What if a patent that could make your car aware of the environment to help improve your city’s air quality?</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHB2Ny51zY1zkT2KtOFepfV3dIZOZtVqW57w8iP50phozjijClKwYjtMMhgVnvMXN6wMlhoBHgWUhIsi-n2u1GN5-0zLmVDrpIthxgDwHDnXCl8FsoZRjULX7cmL-LGlpGY4jgopCA0UN/s1600/jkozloski.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHB2Ny51zY1zkT2KtOFepfV3dIZOZtVqW57w8iP50phozjijClKwYjtMMhgVnvMXN6wMlhoBHgWUhIsi-n2u1GN5-0zLmVDrpIthxgDwHDnXCl8FsoZRjULX7cmL-LGlpGY4jgopCA0UN/s1600/jkozloski.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by James Kozloski, Computational and Applied Neuroscience, Research Staff Member, IBM Research</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Imagine you’re driving into New York City. It’s a summer day. Sunny, hot… and the smog is bad. The city knows the pollution is a problem, and wants your help to abate it. So, as you drive through the EZPass toll on the Triborough Bridge, you – or more accurately, your hybrid car – gets a message asking “Can the City of New York switch your powertrain to ‘all electric power’ while you’re visiting?” If you say “yes,” your toll fee will be discounted.</span><br /><a name="more"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s the concept behind <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US8781668">patent 8,781,668</a>: create a location-based vehicle powertrain regulation system.</span> <span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I had the idea while riding around Bangkok. Many of the taxi drivers can switch their fuel sources from standard petrol (regular unleaded gas) to cheaper liquefied petroleum (such as propane or butane). Why not have software automatically make a switch based on environmental conditions? That’s essentially what the Thai cabbies were doing manually to save a few baht. The system we invented does it to save on automobile emissions based on location.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNB62Lzp1YoF8vqmVT90zLj4gdeCsZ4fQaTP-YEvWCvRbRGN6ngT9zm714BIGyhoLtNoM4hSptK4ET_QVJxlsBbKuqL3vzxy3c2GiigIqoaH37hwaWROuGUI0lD9DP-Ro84YzJZ-HMNbGf/s1600/jkoz_thailand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNB62Lzp1YoF8vqmVT90zLj4gdeCsZ4fQaTP-YEvWCvRbRGN6ngT9zm714BIGyhoLtNoM4hSptK4ET_QVJxlsBbKuqL3vzxy3c2GiigIqoaH37hwaWROuGUI0lD9DP-Ro84YzJZ-HMNbGf/s1600/jkoz_thailand.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Kozloski on a family vacation in Bangkok, Thailand</td></tr></tbody></table><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> A partnership between your car and the environment</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You and I don’t necessarily know the ozone rating or smog levels as we commute to and from work. But sensors do. Sensors that send data to weather stations, and city officials. If our cars, in turn, have sensors that picked up this data, and could communicate with these third parties, our car’s powertrain could adjust its emissions while driving.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Currently, only plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can make this kind of auto-powertrain switch (unless you count taxicabs from Thailand). But think about driving around in a congested city. You’re probably not driving in a way to notice the difference between a gas-powered versus all electric engine. So, with your permission, why not let the environment – via a sensor – tell your car to stay on “electric” while you’re in city limits?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Today’s hybrids work only to maximize the vehicle’s performance based on what the driver does. This invention just adds external considerations to the vehicle’s efficiency calculations. This means retrofitting is doable by adding a sensor or two, and updating the onboard software to respond to their measurements. And in the patent’s current form, the driver would still have to agree to allow any of these outside adjustments. (So don’t worry, nothing will take over your car!) Just passing through via the highway? Say “no” to the all-electric switch at the toll booth. </span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzRIaBZWgdj-8Yw69Q60hj7yzBCaSAS7UCKLja4TZSBzifx9O-a7-_v6YqN-6Vt7L6cu00yfrOpai-7Jfn9bYrS8zmnfBhOCO0-k2XHoNIVKS2vE9VhFQGfhGbeBDVfNr7I7dDHRNM0ch/s1600/powertrain_illustration1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzRIaBZWgdj-8Yw69Q60hj7yzBCaSAS7UCKLja4TZSBzifx9O-a7-_v6YqN-6Vt7L6cu00yfrOpai-7Jfn9bYrS8zmnfBhOCO0-k2XHoNIVKS2vE9VhFQGfhGbeBDVfNr7I7dDHRNM0ch/s1600/powertrain_illustration1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Every PHEV and city it drives through is a customer</span></b></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In attempting to determine the patent’s potential impact, we calculated that about 30 percent of the cars on the road need to use alternative fuels to make a significant dent in city smog levels. While the hybrid market share currently hovers around <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/06/09/hybrid-cars-market-share-polk/10238155/">3 percent</a>, PHEVs continue to grow, and J.D. Power predicts that <a href="http://www.jdpowercontent.com/globalauto/one-third-of-vehicle-mix-to-feature-alternative-powertrains-in-2025/2013/04/29/">one-third</a>of all vehicles will use some kind of alternative fuel by 2025 (17.5% being PHEVs). And some cities may reach a practical number much sooner. As civic and other government environmental agencies get a clearer picture of emission levels, this patent could deliver a small, but significant, way citizens can help improve a pollution problem.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">IBM’s own “<a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/attachment/35314.wss?fileId=ATTACH_FILE1&fileName=Frustration%20Rising_IBM%202011%20Commuter%20Pain%20Report.pdf">commuter pain index</a>” shows that bad traffic isn’t going away. So while the patent doesn’t solve a lousy commute, it can help make it cleaner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b>Podcast: James Kozloski explains patent #7,781,668</b> </span><br /><br /></div><iframe frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/185545691&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe> <br /><b>More about IBM's 2014 patent leadership</b><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45793.wss" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">IBM sets patent record</span></a></li><li><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/turning-mobile-security-upside-down.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Turning mobile security upside down</span></a> </li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibm.co/1yGZ5YR" target="_blank">A new generation of young inventors</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/validating-hack-free-web-experience.html" target="_blank">Validating a (hack-free) web experience</a></span></li></ul><br />

invention patent smarter cities smarter environment smarter traffic Patent powers a cleaner commute

What if a patent that could make your car aware of the environment to help improve your city’s air quality? by James Kozloski, Computation...

Validating a (hack-free) web experience

6:00 AM N1000 0

<div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Patent verifies information flow downgraders</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hacks, phishing, and other malicious cyberattacks all happen <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">due</span>to bugs in a software program’s code. Because no one can manually check the millions of lines of code behind a mobile app <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">or a website</span>, developers use verification software to check their work. And even then, sometimes <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the analysis that traditionally trusts that defenses installed by the developer were implemented correctly, </span>misses vulnerabilities.</span><br /><a name="more"></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="right"><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-insideh: .25pt solid black; mso-border-insidev: .25pt solid black; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-layout-alt: fixed; mso-table-left: right; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-overlap: never; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: .05pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 216px;"> <tbody><tr style="height: 209.8pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">  <td style="border: solid white 1.0pt; height: 209.8pt; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; padding: 4.0pt 4.0pt 4.0pt 4.0pt; width: 2.25in;" valign="top" width="216"><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The   patent process</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><br /><i><span style="color: #595959; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What I see most often is someone with a great idea, but who   doesn't think of it in terms of a patentable idea. As a Master Inventor, I   want to help my colleagues move those ideas to patents.</span></i><span style="color: #595959; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> – Marco Pistoia</span><span style="color: #595959; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: right; mso-element-top: .05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><br /><i><span style="color: #595959; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s also about point of view. Many file patents that describe   what they have done. But what’s more valuable is the abstract, creative use   of the idea.</span></i><span style="color: #595959; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> – Omer Tripp</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div></td> </tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is where IBM Master Inventors Omer Tripp, PhD and Marco Pistoia, PhD focused patent #8,635,602: <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/us8635602"><span class="Hyperlink0">Verification of information-flow downgraders</span></a>. Filed in 2010, the invention aims to close the loop on code that – because of poor<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ly implemented defenses</span> – compromises sensitive data, such as bank account numbers, and passwords.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I would say the patent is more valuable today (it was issued in 2014) because of the explosion in cloud and mobile technologies, which <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">necessitate defenses that are more challenging to implement correctly than ever before.</span>We’re all accessing websites that require sensitive information about ourselves, and sometimes the software asking for that information is vulnerable,” said Omer, who has filed 174 patent applications and been issued 64. In 2012, Omer earned more than 1 percent of IBM’s entire patent total of 6,478.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Omer and Marco set out four years ago to verify what software applications claimed to be secure “downgrader” code (the part of a software program that sanitizes <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">or validates</span> untrusted input to a website, or obfuscates and declassifies confidential data before its release). By developing a way to check a website’s information flow downgrader, they found that live, implemented code still had security holes. “Our tool simulates what developers have a hard time testing for, such as ‘double encoded’ input, or other odd combinations of validation routines,” said Marco, who has 148 patent filings and 72 patent issuances to his name. </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlZl1qZIqqUM51VWLNwmKD5PDbYw8pb4GZLSp816JVoiEs05pQovCI9onTKhfiMjNzlkWkMOSulfD5-Ok24sF6TZ4xdtc6xFODHL-s-lekU2Jh0Bwl794pAA2wI8OLaEG5_RE2h8ff07M/s1600/patent_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlZl1qZIqqUM51VWLNwmKD5PDbYw8pb4GZLSp816JVoiEs05pQovCI9onTKhfiMjNzlkWkMOSulfD5-Ok24sF6TZ4xdtc6xFODHL-s-lekU2Jh0Bwl794pAA2wI8OLaEG5_RE2h8ff07M/s1600/patent_art.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Their ISSTA 2011 paper, <a href="http://researcher.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-otripp/issta11-1.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Path-and index-sensitive string analysis based on monadic second-order logic</span></a> demonstrated vulnerabilities on several open source websites, earning ACM SIGSOFT’s Distinguished Paper Award.</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Trust <i>and</i> verify</span></b><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Downgraders take input that’s not trusted, like erroneous details entered into a website login form, and help make it trusted. They sanitize the information <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">by getting rid of certain unintended, and potentially malicious, characters and substrings.</span> But they can be tricked by <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">recursive nesting of the payload, and other clever tricks</span>. The invention detects when a downgrader incorrectly allows (or rejects) accurate input – and can be integrated into <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">standard</span> analysis tools.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"Developers do validate that their software works as it should. But what’s often left unchecked are the inputs to the software – how the average person checks Twitter, or applies for a bank account,” Marco said. “We can now analyze those inputs to make sure the defenses a developer puts in place work, or alternatively, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">have</span> errors.”</span> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“Now, we want to connect this invention with others we’re working on in this area, namely tools that automatically fix<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">broken defenses</span>.</i> This would help developers check their code, and their downgraders,” Omer said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">More about IBM's 2014 patent leadership</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><ul><li><a href="http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/45793.wss" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">IBM sets patent record</span></a></li><li><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/turning-mobile-security-upside-down.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Turning mobile security upside down</span></a></li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2015/01/patent-powers-cleaner-commute.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Patent powers a cleaner commute</span></a> </span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://ibm.co/1yGZ5YR" target="_blank">A new generation of young inventors</a></span></li></ul></div></div>