New Apple Patent Uses A Picture To Create Secure Network Connections Between Devices
A few day ago, a new U.S. Patent was given to Apple by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Patent No. 8,429,407 is related to a “Digital handshake between devices”, and it`s meant to create a secure way of communication between two smartphones, by making use of an image that will produce a digital handshake code.
The patent points out the fact that nowadays a complex device such as the iPhone, is able to store a wide digital data, like for example text documents, music, video, contacts and so on. As you know already, in the present moment, the owners of such a device are using methods like direct messaging and the email, in order to deliver those data from a device to another. Now, we have to admit that the well known copy paste even though efficient, still remains a dull way of storage.
As far as we could find out, there are some other implementations that ease an immediate communication way between two handsets influencing wireless technologies like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to deliver the info. But, we don`t know if you are aware of the fact that such ways of transferring data ask for a shared network key between those two devices and the generating key process is not that easy to implement due to the limitations in the implementation area. Sometimes, the users need to create and write an entire identical key phrase in order to reach data from another device.
Images courtesy of Apple Insider.
Anyway, we know that there are a few apps, like Bump for example, that can be used between two handsets with the same accelerometer data in order to generate a key, by using a “bump”. But, keep in mind that this is not an option if any of those two devices don`t have a movement sensor incorporated.
Now, if we take a look at Apple`s discovery, the things are a bit different, because it looks like the key will be incorporated in an image taken of a handset. Think for example, that the second device will expose an active key on the screen of your device or even better the key will be incorporated into its bezel or framework. In the same way, there are some cases where flash, filters or infrared light can help generate a secret key. Or, the device might have a specialized chip incorporated along with the camera module in order to reveal and decode a handset key.
Anyway, if more than one device are caught in the image, a handset is capable of analyzing which one is asking for a code via distance, location and data which you can see on your screen.
After the two handsets are linked, the data transfer can start as long as the apps are not running. According to the patent, the users are the ones who can choose to transfer all the content or just a part of it.
You should remember that in some cases, the digital handshake is nothing more than an identification method that offers a device the possibility to access protected data.
If you didn`t know, the first time when the camera based digital handshake came into discussion and Apple asked for a patent was in 2010. The developers of this feature were Caroline Cranfill and Marcel Van Os.
