Varying the amount of time that a mobile device must be inactive before the mobile device re-locks access to a computerized resource

Abstract

A technique controls access to a computerized resource of a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, etc.). The technique involves sensing, by processing circuitry, a set of environmental factors from a particular environment of the mobile device when the mobile device unlocks the computerized resource in response to successful authentication of a user. The technique further involves selecting, by the processing circuitry, an expiration time based on the set of environmental factors. The technique further involves configuring, by the processing circuitry, an inactivity timer to re-lock access to the computerized resource of the mobile device when the inactivity timer identifies a time period of mobile device inactivity that reaches the selected expiration time. Along these lines, this time period may be relatively long in a trusted environment (e.g., an hour, several hours, etc.), but relatively short in an untrusted environment (e.g., a few minutes).