Enterprise Workspace Rolling Key Authorization

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional enterprise workspace systems lack secure mechanisms to authorize and control the triggering of expressions from external services, potentially leading to malicious or unauthorized activities.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method that uses a rolling key function and secret key shared securely with an external service to authorize the triggering of expressions within an enterprise workspace, ensuring only authorized expressions are executed based on a matching authorization key.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If external services are allowed to trigger expressions within an enterprise workspace, then functionality and integration capability are improved, but security and risk of malicious activities worsen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveintegration capabilityVSAvoidmalicious activities

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a webhook mechanism as an intermediary between external services and the enterprise workspace. The webhook receives requests from external services, validates them against predefined triggers and expressions, and only executes authorized actions. This intermediary layer enables external integration while maintaining security by filtering and controlling what external services can trigger within the workspace.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If webhook mechanisms are used to enable external triggering, then ease of operation and integration are improved, but security control and authorization worsen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewebhook integrationVSAvoidauthorization control

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-configuring triggers and expressions within the enterprise workspace before external services attempt to trigger them. The webhook mechanism is set up in advance with specific trigger conditions and authorized expressions defined. When external services send requests, the pre-configured triggers automatically evaluate and enforce authorization, making the security control reliable and the operation simple for external services.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11228575B2Enterprise workspaces

Publication Date: 2022.01.18 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION

AI summary

Concepts for defining authority for triggering an expression within an enterprise workspace from an external service outside the enterprise workspace are presented. Such concepts define a rolling key function configured to generate a rolling key. A secret is defined as a starting point for the rolling key function. The secret and the rolling key function are securely shared with the external service.