Authentication Agent for Legacy Systems Using Invalid Credential Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication systems lack sufficient complexity, particularly in legacy systems, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access, as they often cannot implement advanced password requirements such as special characters or longer lengths.
Innovation Solution
A system that introduces a hidden multi-factor authentication method by generating 'invalid' login credentials using a pre-shared key and algorithm, both locally and on a backend, to validate user credentials, ensuring only correct credentials grant access after multiple attempts, thereby increasing authentication complexity without modifying legacy applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication systems are used in legacy applications, then ease of operation is maintained, but security reliability is insufficient due to lack of credential complexity requirements
Solution Approach 1:
An authentication agent is introduced as an intermediary component between the user and the legacy application. This agent intercepts authentication requests, generates randomized credential requirements, and validates user input against these dynamically generated credentials. The agent translates complex multi-credential requirements into a format that legacy applications can process without modification, thereby enhancing security while preserving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication agent performs preliminary actions by pre-generating sets of randomized valid and invalid credentials before the actual authentication process. These credential sets are created using cryptographic algorithms and stored temporarily. When a user attempts authentication, the agent compares their input against these pre-generated credentials, enabling complex validation logic to execute before the legacy application's authentication routine is invoked.
2Reliability
If authentication complexity is increased for legacy systems, then security reliability improves, but ease of manufacture and implementation deteriorates due to system modification requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication agent serves as a standalone intermediary that can be deployed independently of legacy applications. It communicates with the legacy application through standard authentication interfaces, requiring no modifications to the legacy system's codebase. This approach allows security enhancements to be manufactured and implemented as separate modules that integrate with existing systems through well-defined interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication agent creates virtual copies of credential validation logic that mirrors the expected authentication flow. Instead of modifying the legacy application's authentication routine, the agent generates simulated authentication scenarios with randomized credentials that follow the same validation patterns. This copying approach allows complex security logic to be implemented without altering the original system's structure.
3Reliability
If multi-factor authentication with randomized credentials is implemented, then authentication security is enhanced, but device complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication system is segmented into distinct functional modules: a credential generation module that creates randomized valid and invalid credentials, a validation module that compares user input against these credentials, and a control module that manages the authentication flow. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, reducing overall system complexity despite the enhanced security requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication agent dynamically changes parameters such as credential length, character set composition, and number of required credential sets based on security requirements. By parameterizing these aspects, the system can adjust its complexity level without fundamental structural changes. The randomized credentials use cryptographic parameters that can be tuned to balance security strength against processing overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is provided for increasing authentication complexity for access to online systems. In particular, the system may use a hidden or obscured method for creating and enforcing a multi-factor authentication scheme. In this regard, the system may introduce authentication logic to a particular application in the network environment such that one or more “invalid” login credentials are generated by a local agent using a pre-shared key and/or algorithm. A back-end authentication system may be calculate its own set of “invalid” login credentials based on the same pre-shared key and/or algorithm, then subsequently compare the calculated incorrect credentials with the incorrect login credentials received from the local agent. If a match is detected, the system may permit a valid set of authentication credentials to be provided to authorize access to the target application and/or online system.