DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the correspondence filed on 09/23/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and are examined.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant's claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 09/23/2024 and 01/17/2025 x2. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1-10, specifically independent claim 1, “the first channel” was never recited before. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6, 9-16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aronesty et al. (US Pub No. 2021/0144002 A1 per IDS, referred to as Aronesty), in view of Tan (US Pub No. 2006/0098678 A1, referred to as Tan).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 20, taking claim 1 as exemplary, Aronesty discloses,
1. A system for detecting a man-in-the-middle attack on an encrypted set of data between a source and a destination, wherein
a plurality of channels couples the source and the destination; (Aronesty: receiving via a first channel, at a first device (destination), a second device's (source) public key and proof of work of the second device's public key; hashing, at the first device, the received second device's public key and proof of work; generating, at the first device, a representation of the second device's public key using the hash; confirming via a second channel (channels) that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device.)
the source comprises
a source communications subsystem coupled to the plurality of channels, (Aronesty: [0004])
a source processor, and (Aronesty: [0005])
a source hashing subsystem, wherein (Aronesty: [0004]; generating, at the first device, a representation of the second device's public key using the hash (source hashing subsystem).)
the source communications subsystem, source processor and source hashing subsystem are coupled with each other; (Aronesty: [0004])
the destination comprises
a destination communications subsystem coupled to the plurality of channels, (Aronesty: [0004])
a destination hashing subsystem, (Aronesty: [0004]; the second device representation generated using a hash of the second device's public key.)
a comparison subsystem, and (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel that the generated representation at the first device matches (comparison) a generated representation at the second device.)
a destination processor, wherein (Aronesty: [0005])
the destination communications subsystem, destination hashing subsystem, comparison subsystem and destination processor are coupled with each other; and (Aronesty: [0004])
further wherein
the source hashing subsystem hashes the …set of data to create one or more copies of a source hash, (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device. the second device representation generated (create) using a hash of the second device's public key (data).)
the source communications subsystem transmits the …set of data to the destination using a first of the plurality of channels, (Aronesty: [0004]; receiving via a first channel. at a first device. a second device's public key.)
the source communications subsystem transmits the one or more copies of the source hash to the destination using one or more of the plurality of channels other than the first channel, (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel (other than the first channel) that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device, the second device representation generated using a hash of the second device's public key.)
the destination communications subsystem receives
the …set of data from the first channel, and (Aronesty: [0004]; receiving via a first channel, at a first device, a second device's public key.)
the one or more copies of the source hash from the one or more of the plurality of channels other than the first channel, (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel (other than the first channel) that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device, the second device representation generated using a hash of the second device's public key.)
the destination hashing subsystem hashes the received …set of data to create a destination hash, (Aronesty: [0004]; hashing, at the first device, the received second device's public key ...generating. at the first device. a representation of the second device's public key using the hash.)
the comparison subsystem compares the one or more copies of the source hash with each other and the destination hash, and (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device. Figure 16, step 1670 discloses that the step of confirming the matching of the hashes is performed by device A1 and therefore within the destination.)
at least one of the comparison subsystem and the destination processor detects a presence or an absence of a man-in-the-middle attack based on the comparison. (Aronesty: [0004]; confirming via a second channel that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device ...and encrypting data, at the first device, using the confirmed second device's public key (absence of a man-in-the-middle attack). While Aronesty discloses confirming that the transferred data has not been tampered with (the absence of an attacker), it is implied that the method will likewise detect an attack in a case where the confirmation fails. Figure 16, step 1670 discloses that the step of confirming the matching of the hashes is performed by device A1 and is therefore performed by a processor of the destination device of the data transfer.)
Aronesty does not explicitly disclose, however Tan teaches,
hashes the encrypted set of data (Tan: [0077]; the encrypted message is then hashed and the
two hashes are compared.)
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Tan into the teachings of Aronesty with a motivation to facilitate the secure transfer of a message between the computational means by employing encryption of the message and comparing hashes of the encrypted message to ensure that the message has not been tampered with (Tan: [0005], [0077]).
Regarding the non-exemplary limitations of claim 20, Tan discloses,
…the source processor creates an encrypted first set of data, (Tan: [0006]; forming an encrypted message from the message on the basis of a key derived from one or more codes associated with the second computational device.)
The same motivation that was utilized for combining Aronesty and Tan as set forth earlier in claim 1 is equally applicable to claim 20.
Regarding claims 2, and 12, taking claim 2 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
2. The system of claim 1,
Aronesty further discloses,
wherein at least one of the plurality of channels comprises a plurality of links. (Aronesty: [0027] the terms "channel" or "link" contemplate a means of communicating data ... A message may be communicated directly between two devices or indirectly through another device (e.g., a relay device) on one or more channels/links.)
Regarding claims 3, and 13, taking claim 3 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
3. The system of claim 2,
Aronesty further discloses,
wherein at least one of the plurality of links is coupled to an intermediate node. (Aronesty: [0027] the terms "channel" or "link" contemplate a means of communicating data ... A message may be communicated directly between two devices or indirectly through another device (e.g., a relay device) on one or more channels/links.)
Regarding claims 4, and 14, taking claim 4 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
4. The system of claim 1,
Aronesty further discloses,
wherein the plurality of channels is selected by the source processor from a list of available channels. (Aronesty: [0100]; a client device (a first device) can request a secure channel type (e.g., QR, email, SMS) by selecting a channel.)
Regarding claims 5, and 15, taking claim 5 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the selecting is based on one or more of:
Aronesty further discloses,
signal quality;
link quality;
geolocation information;
positional or motion information; and
user input. (Aronesty: [0100]; a client device (a first device) can request a secure channel type (e.g., QR, email, SMS) by selecting a channel.)
Regarding claims 6, and 16, taking claim 6 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the selecting comprises prioritizing based on one or more of:
Aronesty further discloses,
signal quality;
link quality;
geolocation information;
positional or motion information; and
user input. (Aronesty: [0100]; a client device (a first device) can request a secure channel type (e.g., QR, email, SMS) by selecting a channel.)
Regarding claims 9, and 19, taking claim 9 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
9. The system of claim 1,
Aronesty further discloses,
wherein the plurality of channels comprises at least one indirect channel. (Aronesty: [0027] the terms "channel" or "link" contemplate a means of communicating data ... A message may be communicated directly between two devices or indirectly through another device (e.g., a relay device) on one or more channels/links.)
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
10. The system of claim 1,
Aronesty further discloses,
wherein the plurality of channels comprises a first channel and a second channel; and (Aronesty: receiving via a first channel, at a first device, a second device's public key and proof of work of the second device's public key; hashing, at the first device, the received second device's public key and proof of work; generating, at the first device, a representation of the second device's public key using the hash; confirming via a second channel that the generated representation at the first device matches a generated representation at the second device.)
the first channel and the second channel occupy non-overlapping frequency ranges. (Aronesty: [0027] the terms "channel" or "link" contemplate a means of communicating data ... A message may be communicated directly between two devices or indirectly through another device (e.g., a relay device) on one or more channels/links (different wireless channels can have different nonoverlapping frequency ranges).)
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aronesty, in view of Tan and further in view of Korean Patent (Korean Pat No. KR 101 447 469 B1 per IDS, referred to as KR3).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, taking claim 7 as exemplary, the combination of Aronesty and Tan discloses,
7. The system of claim 4,
The combination of Aronesty and Tan does not explicitly disclose, however KR3 teaches,
wherein the source processor removes one or more channels from the list of available channels based on the detection of the presence or the absence of the man-in-the-middle attack. (KR3: [0032]; transmits a channel change message to the existing wireless communication terminals ...if an attack attempt is detected, the channel can be changed to prevent (remove) the attack from succeeding.)
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of KR3 into the combination of Aronesty and Tan with a motivation to prevent wireless intrusion and defend against attack by controlling communication channels (KR3: [0001]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 contains allowable subject matter but remain rejected under 112 rejections. It is also objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims; and the stated rejection(s) are resolved.
Claim 18 is objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Although prior arts of Aronesty, Tan and KR3 above disclose all the limitations of the prior claims (see rejections above), none of the prior arts of record alone or in combination discloses transmiting encrypted dummy data over the one or more channels removed from the list of available channels as described in the claims.
At the effective filing date of the application, the above limitations would not have been obvious over the prior arts of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jawaharlal; Samuel Mathew et al. US-PGPUB US 20200162265 A1 Comparison and validation of digital content using contextual analysis
UMESAWA; Kentaro et al. US-PGPUB US 20090249490 A1 Comparing hash value
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KA SHAN CHOY whose telephone number is (571) 272-1569. The examiner can normally be reached on MON - FRI: 9AM-5:30PM EST Alternate Fridays.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amir Mehrmanesh can be reached at (571) 270-3351. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KA SHAN CHOY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2435