Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Richard Craddock

Krishna C Vitaldevara

Scott M Isaacs

David J Cheng

Ashutosh Tewari

Steven Kafka

Ken H Chin

Krish Vitaldevara

An authentication process receives information identifying a user, a device used by the user and a location in which the device is being used. That authentication process determines whether the location is among a set of familiar locations stored about the user for a service being accessed. If the location is not among the set of familiar locations, then the user is not authenticated. A desirable user experience can be obtained by using information about any existing relationship, such as a synchronization relationship, between the device and the service established at a prior familiar location. Instead of challenging a user whose device is in an unfamiliar location, the authentication process determines whether the device has a relationship established with the service. If the device has a relationship established with the service, then the set of familiar locations is updated to include the location in which the device is being used.

Using trusted devices to augment location-based account protection

A system and method are disclosed for providing an extensible email having rich, interactive browser capabilities. The system includes a service provider for receiving extensible emails from a third party platform and presenting the emails to a user's computing device. The extensible email includes URL metadata which allows a mail user agent to fetch and run code from a third party server in order to generate the extensible email. A secure sandbox ensures that the third party code does no damage to the service provider system or the user's computing system.

Interactive email

A method for providing an additional layer of authentication prior to accessing a user's account even though the user's credentials have previously been verified. User accounts are often accessed via a sign-in page that verifies the user's credentials. Upon detecting a device accessing the sign-in page, an identifier associated with the device is obtained. One such type of identifier is the IP address assigned to the device. Based on the identifier, it is determined whether the device is trusted or not. Even thought the user's credentials are verified via the sign-in page, if the device is not trusted, a second authentication page is presented to the user prior to proceeding to the account. The second authentication page presents at least one security question. The security question is based on information contained in the user's account (e.g., contact information, event information, electronic messages, etc.). The user is required to correctly answer the security question in order to access the account.

Account hijacking counter-measures

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Richard Craddock