PEEiRS Passive Endpoint Risk Evaluation for Prompt-Free Authentication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication systems face challenges in providing high-confidence user and endpoint verification across various applications, especially non-browser based or legacy systems, while maintaining user experience and security, due to limitations in traditional perimeter protection and endpoint evaluation.
Innovation Solution
The Passive Evaluation of Endpoint Identity and Risk as Surrogate (PEEiRS) system provides a decentralized, passive, and out-of-band authentication method that evaluates endpoint identity and risk factors during login, using a lightweight agent and off-device witness to enhance traditional single-factor authentication with minimal user interaction, applicable to both web and non-web applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multi-factor authentication is implemented to enhance security, then authentication confidence is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to repetitive prompting
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of endpoint identity and risk factors before authentication occurs. By pre-assessing device trustworthiness, security posture, and risk profile, the system determines whether additional authentication factors are needed in advance, eliminating repetitive prompting during actual login operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication system performs self-service by automatically evaluating endpoint characteristics and making intelligent decisions about authentication requirements without user intervention. The system monitors device behavior, security posture, and risk factors autonomously, determining when MFA is necessary based on real-time risk assessment rather than requiring explicit user actions.
2Reliability
If comprehensive security controls are implemented to reduce breach risk, then security is improved, but functionality and accessibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different security evaluation criteria to different endpoints based on their individual risk profiles. Rather than applying uniform security controls, the system assesses each endpoint's specific characteristics (device trustworthiness, security posture, behavior patterns) and tailors authentication requirements accordingly, allowing full functionality for trusted devices while maintaining security for untrusted ones.
Solution Approach 2:
The security controls are dynamic rather than static, continuously adapting based on real-time risk assessment. The system monitors endpoint behavior, security posture changes, and threat indicators, adjusting authentication requirements dynamically. This allows the system to maintain high accessibility for low-risk scenarios while enforcing comprehensive security controls when risk thresholds are exceeded.
3Reliability
If traditional perimeter protection models are used to secure cloud resources, then security is improved, but adaptability to cloud environments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of protecting resources through traditional network perimeters and firewalls, the system inverts the approach by implementing identity-centric security evaluation. Rather than asking 'can this network segment access the resource?', the system asks 'is this endpoint trustworthy enough to access the resource?', fundamentally shifting from network-based to identity-based security models that naturally adapt to cloud environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The endpoint evaluation system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it authenticates users, assesses device trustworthiness, evaluates security posture, determines risk levels, and makes authentication decisions. This multi-functional approach provides universal applicability across diverse cloud environments and application types, replacing the need for separate perimeter protection systems with a single adaptable identity evaluation framework.
Data Source
AI summary
The password, a half century old concept that many depend on to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of data is badly broken, and accordingly places data and systems at great risk of loss or breach. This paper describes a passive and user independent means of applying concepts of identity, device trust, and risk based authentication to secure access to on-premise and cloud based resources; many of which rely solely on passwords. Additionally, this novel approach to authentication can further facilitate truly mobile computing, while maintaining, if not improving the overall user experience.