Digital-to-Agent Authentication State Transfer with Time-Bound Tokens
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing verification systems face inefficiencies and resource consumption when transferring authentication from a digital channel to an agent channel, particularly in call centers, due to the need for redundant authentication procedures and vulnerability to malicious actors.
Innovation Solution
A system that transfers an authentication state from a digital channel to an agent channel by storing an event with a timestamp in a database, allowing the server to determine if the event occurred within a threshold time of the call, thereby enabling secure and efficient access without requiring a full authentication procedure over the agent channel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full authentication procedure is performed over the agent channel, then security is maintained, but time and processing resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs authentication in advance through digital channels (mobile app, website) before the agent channel interaction. The authentication token generated from this preliminary action is stored and later validated during the call, eliminating the need for redundant authentication and reducing authentication time while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
An authentication token acts as an intermediary between the digital channel authentication and the agent channel service access. This token carries authentication information that can be validated without requiring the full authentication procedure again, thus reducing time consumption while preserving security through the intermediary verification mechanism.
2Productivity
If authentication state is transferred without verification, then processing efficiency is improved, but security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by validating the authentication token against the database to verify its authenticity and check if it is within the valid time window. This feedback mechanism ensures that only legitimate authentication states are transferred, maintaining security while enabling efficient processing for valid tokens.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication token includes a time component that makes it dynamic rather than static. The system checks whether the current time is within the valid time window of the token, allowing the authentication state to be transferred efficiently only when dynamic conditions are satisfied, thus balancing productivity and security.
3Reliability
If authentication events are stored indefinitely, then reliability of verification is improved, but database resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically discards authentication events from the database after they have been used or after a certain period. This ensures that only relevant authentication events are stored, maintaining verification reliability for active tokens while reducing database storage consumption by removing obsolete data.
Data Source
AI summary
In some implementations, a server device may obtain an indication of an incoming call, associated with a user device, to the call center service. The server device may perform a lookup in a database for information associated with the user device, wherein the information indicates the authentication status of a user that is established via the user device. The server device may determine whether an amount of time that the information has been stored in the database is less than or equal to a time threshold. The server device may generate an authentication token for the incoming call based on the authentication status and based on the amount of time being less than or equal to the time threshold.