Certificate-Based Metrics Authorization System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for regulating access to application performance metrics lack secure and efficient methods to authenticate and authorize users, leading to potential unauthorized access and data security concerns.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes certificate-based authentication, where application owners generate private and public key pairs to certify ownership, and secure protocols like SSL/TLS for data access, ensuring only authorized users can access metrics reports through a tenant engine, metrics engine, and report engine, which maintain and provide metrics based on certificate authorization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If certificate-based authentication is implemented, then data security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses certificates as intermediary objects that mediate between users and the metrics data. Instead of direct authentication, the system introduces certificate-based credentials that verify user identity and authorization. The tenant engine acts as an intermediary that validates certificates and enforces access control, separating authentication logic from data access logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical authentication methods (passwords, tokens) with cryptographic certificate-based authentication. This substitution uses public key infrastructure (PKI) where private keys sign requests and public keys verify them, providing stronger security without requiring users to remember complex passwords or manage physical tokens.
2Reliability
If access control is regulated, then data security is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service authentication where users automatically present their certificates for verification. The tenant engine automatically validates certificates and grants access without requiring manual approval or complex authentication workflows. Users simply need to have valid certificates, and the system handles verification automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
Authorization is established in advance through certificate issuance. Before users attempt to access metrics data, their certificates are pre-validated and authorized by the system administrator or automated processes. This preliminary authorization eliminates the need for real-time access requests and approvals, improving operational convenience while maintaining security.
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a system can include a tenant engine to maintain a plurality of tenant profiles with access to a first set of metrics of a plurality of metrics based on authorization via a certificate, a metrics engine to maintain a plurality of metrics derived from instrumentation of a plurality of applications, and a report engine to provide the first set of metrics in response to a report request when the report request is from a user associated with a first tenant profile of the plurality of tenant profiles and the first tenant profile is authorized to access the first set of metrics based on the certificate associated with a private key used to sign a first application of the plurality of applications.