A tool is disclosed for searching information redacted from electronic communications. The tool receives, based on input by a user into an interface of an electronic communication repository, a request to search through vaulted information, the vaulted information redacted from the electronic communication repository. The tool transmits an identity verification challenge to a device of the user and determines whether the identity verification challenge is successful. Responsive to determining that the identity verification challenge is successful, the tool searches the vaulted information for one or more files comprising a symbol input by the user, and generates, for display within the interface, identifiers corresponding to each of the one or more files.

Systems and methods for validating online activities through proof-of-work techniques are provided. In one example, a validating computing system receives a request for a proof-of-work instruction from a client device that has submitted an online activity request to an online server system. The validating computing system generates and transmits a proof-of-work instruction for solving a problem to the client device. The validating computing system further receives a response to the proof-of-work instruction from the client device. The validating computing system generates a validity decision based on whether the client device correctly solved the problem, and transmits, to the online server system, the validity decision for use in granting the online activity request to the online server system.

An integrated circuit includes: one or more protected circuits; a license control circuit configured to request, from a license issuer, a license for activating the one or more protected circuits, the license request having a seed value; and a cryptographic circuit configured to verify the authenticity of a license received from the license issuer based on the seed value, wherein the license control circuit is configured to impose a validity limit on the received license, and to request a new license from the license issuer before the validity limit of the received license.

A device locator mode or find my device (FMD) mode can allow a lost, stolen, or misplaced mobile device to be located. The FMD mode can be enabled or disabled on a mobile device. Sometimes thieves or unauthorized parties attempt to disable the FMD mode. To prevent this, the mobile device can transmit a unique device identifier to a remote server. The remote server can link the device identifier to a cloud-based user account associated with the user of the mobile device. Before an FMD mode is disabled on the mobile device, before the content or settings can be erased, and/or before a mobile device is permitted to be activated/reactivated, a user of the mobile device can be challenged for the credentials of the cloud-based user account. If valid credentials are provided, FMD can be disabled, the content or settings can be reset, and/or the device can be activated/reactivated.

A mobile device comprises a functional arrangement for performing a function of the mobile device, a coupling device for connecting the mobile device to a stationary device, an authentication device for authenticating the stationary device and an activation device. The authentication device authenticates the stationary device based on information on the stationary device. The activation device activates the functional arrangement when the mobile device is connected to the stationary device by the coupling device, and when the stationary device has been authenticated by the authentication device.

In an approach, a processor receives a request to access an electronic resource from a device. A processor causes the device to generate a Completely Automated Public Turing test (CAPTCHA), where the CAPTCHA comprises: a virtual keyboard; an ordered string of characters required to be input; and presentation of a highlighted key of the virtual keyboard on the device, wherein (i) the highlighted key is a first key visually distinct from other keys of the virtual keyboard and (ii) the first key corresponds to a character of the ordered string of characters. A processor receives a result of the CAPTCHA from the device. A processor performs an action based on the result.

An information processing apparatus includes a requester that requests a user to perform an action in response to the user seeking permission, an obtainer that obtains user information about the user in response to the user being requested to perform the action, a determiner that determines whether to provide the permission to the user based on the user information, and a controller that performs control to repeatedly cause, in response to the determiner determining that the permission is not to be provided to the user, the requester to request the user to perform a new action not previously requested by the requester, the obtainer to obtain new user information about the user, and the determiner to determine whether to provide the permission based on the new user information.

A system and a method for a supply-chain hardware integrity for electronics defense (SHIELD) dielet embedded over a component of a device, a radio frequency identification (RFID) probe system coupled to the SHIELD dielet, and a secure server system communicating with the RFID probe system that can enable security services is provided. Embodiments include a multi-function SHIELD software defined, hardware enabled security system that provides hardware identity, anti-tamper, encryption key generation and management, trusted platform module services, and cryptographic software security services for a device.

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described herein for improving computer authentication processes by analyzing user response times to authentication questions. A request for access to an account may be received. Transaction data associated with a user of that account may be retrieved, and a list of merchants may be generated based on the transaction data. A blocklist may be retrieved, and the list of merchants may be filtered based on the blocklist. An authentication question may be presented. The authentication question may relate to the list of merchants. User responses may be received, and response times for the user responses may be measured. Based on the response times and the response times for other users, an average response time for the merchants may be determined. Based on the average response time for a particular merchant exceeding a threshold, the particular merchant may be added to the blocklist.

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described herein for improving computer authentication processes by generating authentication questions based on the location of a user. Transaction data indicating a plurality of transactions associated with a user account may be received. Location data indicating a plurality of locations of a user device might be received. At least a subset of the plurality of transactions may be tagged, based on the location data, with an indication that a user was present for a respective transaction. For example, a location of a merchant might be compared to a user device location indicated by the location data. A plurality of authentication questions might be generated based on the subset of the plurality of transactions. Access to the user account might be provided based on responses to the plurality of authentication questions.