Credential Grace Period for Service Continuity

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Solution Overview

Problem

Authentication systems face challenges in identifying where old secrets are still being used after a password reset, leading to potential outages, and require immediate updates across all systems, which can cause service disruptions.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a transitional secret procedure where the old secret is kept valid for a predetermined period, allowing access and generating alerts for administrators to update the new secret, preventing immediate invalidation and enabling gradual rollout.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the old credential is immediately invalidated after replacement with a new credential, then security is improved, but service continuity deteriorates causing outages

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesecurityVSAvoidservice continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by notifying administrators in advance of credential replacement and providing a grace period before the old credential is fully invalidated. This allows time for updating systems proactively rather than reactively after failure, maintaining both security and service continuity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If the old credential is kept valid indefinitely, then service continuity is maintained, but security deteriorates due to unauthorized access risk

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice continuityVSAvoidsecurity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The credential validity is made dynamic rather than static. The old credential transitions from fully valid to gradually invalidated through a grace period, with automatic notification and eventual forced invalidation. This dynamic approach balances security requirements with service continuity needs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If administrators are immediately notified of credential replacement, then security monitoring is improved, but operational complexity increases due to tracking multiple systems

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity monitoringVSAvoidoperational complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback by automatically notifying administrators when credential replacement occurs and when old credentials are still in use. This automated feedback loop provides security monitoring without requiring manual tracking, reducing operational complexity while maintaining security oversight.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS10462152B2Systems and methods for managing credentials used to authenticate access in data processing systems

Publication Date: 2019.10.29 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A system receives a first request to replace a first credential used by an entity to access one or more resources with a second credential to be used by the entity to access the one or more resources. In response to receiving the first request, the system replaces the first credential with the second credential and allows use of the first credential for a predetermined period. In response to receiving a second request from the entity to access the one or more resources using the first credential after replacing the first credential with the second credential, the system allows the entity to access the one or more resources using the first credential during the predetermined period, and generates an indication that the entity used the first credential to access the one or more resources and that the entity is to be updated with the second credential within the predetermined period.