Authentication Adapter Bridge for Incompatible Protocol Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital networks face challenges in authenticating elements that support incompatible authentication protocols, leading to vulnerabilities and difficulties in secure data access, especially when one protocol is weaker than the other.
Innovation Solution
A digital authentication architecture that includes an authentication adapter bridge (AAB) providing an authentication pipeline to facilitate authentication between client nodes and target applications, even when they support different protocols, by generating and executing a series of authentication tests to satisfy the target application's protocol, and issuing tokens for secure access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If direct communication is used for authentication between client nodes and target applications, then authentication speed is improved, but security vulnerabilities increase due to interception and redirection risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an authentication adapter bridge as an intermediary component that mediates authentication between client nodes and target applications. This bridge establishes secure communication channels, preventing direct exposure to interception and redirection attacks while maintaining authentication efficiency through standardized protocols.
2Ease of operation
If authentication protocols are made compatible between different elements, then ease of operation is improved, but adaptability decreases when elements support weaker authentication protocols
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication adapter bridge is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple authentication protocols simultaneously. It can adapt to different protocol requirements (Kerberos, OAuth, SAML, etc.) and perform protocol conversion, enabling universal compatibility while maintaining the ability to enforce stronger authentication standards when needed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a multi-tiered authentication pipeline is implemented to handle incompatible protocols, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication adapter bridge serves as a centralized intermediary that consolidates the complexity of multi-protocol handling in a single component rather than distributing complexity across multiple client nodes and target applications. This centralization simplifies the overall system architecture while maintaining high adaptability to different authentication protocols.
4Reliability
If authentication is performed inline without direct interaction between client nodes and target applications, then security is improved, but authentication time increases due to additional intermediary steps
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication adapter bridge performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing secure communication channels and caching authentication states. This allows inline authentication to proceed efficiently without requiring full protocol negotiation each time, reducing authentication time while maintaining security through the intermediary architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for authenticating presumptively incompatible elements in a digital network are provided. A method may include receiving an access request from a client node in the network. The access request may be requesting access to an application in the network. The access request may be associated with a uniform resource identifier (“authURI”). The method may include extracting a target application from the URI. The method may include determining an authentication protocol that is supported by the target application. The method may include generating, based on the authentication protocol, a series of one or more authentication tests that, in combination, satisfy the authentication protocol. The authentication tests may satisfy the authentication protocol even when the client node natively supports a different authentication protocol. The method may include executing the series of authentication tests to authenticate the client node vis-à-vis the target application.