Harmonized Identity Management for Offline POS Authorization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transaction processing systems lack a unified and flexible identity management solution that can efficiently manage user authentication and authorization across multiple applications and business units, leading to inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
A Harmonized Identity Management (HIDM) service provides a cloud-native, multi-application enabled solution that offers a single source of truth for user data, supports fine-grained permission grouping, and enables offline authentication and authorization, utilizing OAuth2/OIDC protocols to ensure secure delegated access and manage user roles and permissions across a business enterprise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a unified identity management solution is implemented across multiple applications and business units, then user authentication and authorization efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The identity management system is designed as a universal platform that serves multiple applications and business units through standardized OAuth2/OIDC protocols. The system provides common authentication and authorization services to diverse clients including web applications, mobile apps, and IoT devices, eliminating the need for separate identity management implementations for each application.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an identity broker as an intermediary component that mediates between resource owners and resource servers. This broker manages authentication flows, issues tokens, and handles authorization decisions, simplifying the overall system architecture by centralizing identity management functions in a dedicated intermediary service.
2Measurement precision
If fine-grained permission grouping is implemented, then access control precision is improved, but configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments permissions into fine-grained, atomic units that can be independently configured and assigned. Instead of using broad, monolithic permission sets, the system breaks down access rights into specific, granular permissions that can be precisely controlled and combined to create customized access profiles for different users and roles.
Solution Approach 2:
The permission system is designed to be dynamic and flexible, allowing permissions to be easily assigned, modified, and revoked based on changing business requirements. The system supports runtime permission evaluation and adaptive authorization decisions, enabling precise access control without requiring complex static configuration.
3Reliability
If offline authentication and authorization is enabled, then system availability is improved, but security risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication and authorization actions by issuing tokens in advance during offline mode. These pre-validated tokens encapsulate authorization decisions made before offline operation, allowing the system to maintain security while operating without continuous connection to the identity broker. The tokens are issued with appropriate expiration times and scopes to limit potential security risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where offline operations are periodically synchronized with the central identity broker. Token validity is verified against broker state when possible, and authorization decisions are adjusted based on feedback from online operations. This feedback loop helps maintain security while enabling offline functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for processing transactions can include a point of sale (“POS”) device, a payment server, a device monitoring server, a customer engagement server, a checkout assistance server, and a Harmonized Identity Management (“HIDM”) server. The POS device can transmit data associated with a transaction to gain approval of the transaction from the payment server. The device monitoring server can monitor and optimize the performance of the POS device. The customer engagement server can advance a promotion, track a loyalty plan, and distribute coupons and vouchers based on the data associated with the transaction. The checkout assistance server can reduce shrinkage associated with unexpected items in a bagging area near the POS device. The HIDM server can receive requests for authorization tokens from the other servers and provide the tokens.