Manager-Agent Certificate Verification for Secure Device Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing device management systems do not adequately address the need for certificate verification during communication between a manager and an agent, which is crucial for enhancing security, especially when they operate on different hosts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a verification mechanism in both the manager and agent to determine whether to perform certificate verification based on registered certificates and settings, ensuring secure encrypted communication by verifying server certificates when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If certificate verification is performed between manager and agent, then communication security is enhanced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the manager and agent perform certificate verification before establishing encrypted communication. The verification setting is determined in advance based on registered certificates, and certificate acquisition and verification are performed before actual data transmission begins, ensuring security is established proactively rather than reactively
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the manager and agent exchange verification settings and certificate information bidirectionally. The verification unit in each component receives certificate information from the other component and adjusts verification behavior accordingly, creating a feedback loop that ensures mutual authentication and proper security configuration
2Reliability
If certificate verification is performed for agent, then impersonation prevention is improved, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs certificate verification as a preliminary action before actual data transmission begins. The verification setting is determined in advance based on registered certificates, and all certificate exchange and validation occurs during the connection establishment phase rather than during ongoing data communication, minimizing impact on data transmission time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by implementing certificate verification selectively based on the specific verification setting for each component pair. Not all communications require full certificate verification - the system determines the appropriate verification level locally for each manager-agent connection based on their registered certificates and security requirements, avoiding unnecessary verification overhead in lower-risk scenarios
Data Source
AI summary
In a device management system comprising a manager that manages a network device and an agent that relays communication between the manager and the network device, the manager comprises a setting unit that sets a verification setting indicating whether to perform verification of a certificate of the agent when performing encrypted communication with the agent; and a verification unit that performs verification of a certificate by determining whether to perform verification of the certificate of the agent when performing encrypted communication with the agent, based on a certificate registered in the manager and the verification setting, and the agent comprises a verification unit that performs verification of a certificate by determining whether to perform verification of the certificate of the manager when performing encrypted communication with the manager, based on a certificate registered in the agent.