Agentless Native Queries for Just-in-Time Privileged Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cybersecurity methods face challenges in managing privileged network resource access, particularly in large organizations, with persistent credentials leading to security vulnerabilities and difficulties in tracking user permissions, while just-in-time access systems require agent installation, complicating user experience.
Innovation Solution
Implementing agentless techniques using native clients and communication protocols for secure network access, enabling just-in-time privileged access through ephemeral credentials and dynamic authorization, reducing the need for standing privileged accounts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If persistent credentials are provided for network resource access, then user convenience and ease of operation are improved, but security is worsened due to increased attack opportunities and credential management vulnerabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically transitions from persistent credentials to ephemeral credentials that are automatically generated, used, and then destroyed after a single use. This dynamic approach allows users to access network resources conveniently while ensuring that no long-lived credentials exist to be compromised or mismanaged.
Solution Approach 2:
The credential lifetime parameter is changed from persistent/long-lived to ephemeral/short-lived. By implementing just-in-time credential generation with automatic expiration, the system maintains ease of operation while fundamentally improving security by eliminating the window of opportunity for credential theft and misuse.
2Reliability
If just-in-time privileged access systems are implemented, then security is improved by minimizing standing privileged accounts, but device complexity increases due to agent installation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the credential generation and management functionality from the client device by using a native client that leverages existing communication protocols. This eliminates the need for complex agent installations while still enabling just-in-time credential generation, thus improving security without increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses universal native clients and existing communication protocols that can work across multiple devices and platforms without requiring device-specific agents. This multi-functional approach maintains security improvements while avoiding the complexity of implementing separate agent solutions for different devices.
3Ease of operation
If standing privileged accounts are maintained for easy access, then ease of operation is improved, but the number of attack opportunities increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces expensive, long-lived privileged credentials with cheap, short-lived ephemeral credentials that are generated on-demand and automatically destroyed after use. This disposable credential approach maintains operational convenience while eliminating the security risk associated with maintaining standing privileged accounts.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous presence of standing privileged accounts, the system implements periodic generation of ephemeral credentials only when access is needed. This periodic action ensures operational convenience is maintained when access is required while minimizing the window of vulnerability to attacks by ensuring no privileged accounts exist when not in use.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for providing agentless efficient queries for native network resource connections. Techniques include receiving a request from a network identity to access an original network resource; authenticating the network identity using a native client and communication protocol; authorizing the network identity based on one or more access policy; identifying an account having a secret, based on the one or more access policy; accessing the original network resource using the secret; enabling the network identity to access the original network resource using the account using the native client and communication protocol; creating at least one new entity associated with the original network resource; adapting the request to use the at least one new entity; and performing the request using the at least one new entity.