Certificate-Based Authorization for Robotic Process Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic process automation (RPA) solutions lack secure management of authorization data and privacy, making them vulnerable to fraudulent access and data breaches, especially in distributed and heterogeneous environments.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for secure management of authorization data in RPA environments, involving a certificate providing server that issues certificate data to an orchestration server and robot entities, linking these entities with a vault server to transmit credential data for authentication and authorization across legacy systems, utilizing encryption and multi-factor authentication to ensure secure access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If RPA solutions use traditional authentication methods, then ease of operation is improved, but security and reliability deteriorate due to vulnerable authorization data management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a certificate providing server as an intermediary between the orchestration server and robot entities. This server issues and manages certificates, acting as a trusted mediator that enables secure authentication without requiring traditional password-based methods. The intermediary handles certificate issuance, validation, and revocation, thereby improving security while maintaining operational ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical authentication systems (passwords, tokens) with a certificate-based public key infrastructure. Instead of relying on secret-sharing mechanisms, the system uses cryptographic certificates for authentication. This substitution eliminates vulnerabilities associated with traditional authentication while preserving ease of use through automated certificate management.
2Reliability
If RPA solutions implement secure certificate-based authentication, then security and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple servers and protocols
Solution Approach 1:
The certificate providing server is designed to perform multiple functions: issuing certificates, validating certificates, managing certificate revocation, and providing authentication services. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional server, the patent reduces the number of separate components needed, thereby managing complexity while maintaining high security standards.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-issuing certificates to robot entities before they need to authenticate with legacy systems. The certificate providing server proactively manages the entire certificate lifecycle (issuance, renewal, revocation) in advance, eliminating the need for complex real-time authentication negotiations and reducing operational complexity during task execution.
3Reliability
If RPA environments manage secrets and credentials securely, then privacy and security are improved, but loss of information increases due to restricted access and transmission protocols
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses certificate copies and cryptographic representations of credentials instead of transmitting actual secrets. The certificate providing server issues cryptographic certificates that serve as secure copies of authentication credentials. These certificates can be transmitted and stored without exposing the underlying secret data, thereby maintaining privacy while enabling information flow necessary for system operation.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is directed towards the secure management of authorization data and automated processing of instructions in a robotic process automation environment, which allows the management of secrets within such a platform. Secrets may be credentials, access rights, passwords, keys or the like. The underlying message flow can be implemented as a computer implemented software protocol in a distributed RPA (robotic process automation) environment. The invention is furthermore directed towards a respectively arranged system arrangement along with a computer program product and a computer-readable medium.