Secure Gateway Proxy Authentication for Certificate-Protected Resources
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Solution Overview
Problem
In computing environments, users face the challenge of managing multiple digital certificates for different resources, requiring separate sign-on procedures and unique certificates for each resource, which complicates access and management, especially in virtual private networks (VPNs).
Innovation Solution
A secure VPN gateway caches resource-specific digital certificates and performs proxy authentication, allowing clients to access multiple certificate-protected resources with a single sign-on by mapping client-specific certificates to the appropriate resources, eliminating the need for re-authentication and local certificate management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each protected resource requires a unique client-specific digital certificate for authentication, then security and authorization precision are improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to the need for clients to store and manage multiple certificates
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway server acts as an intermediary between the client and protected resources. It stores multiple resource-specific digital certificates and automatically selects and presents the appropriate certificate to each resource on behalf of the client. This mediator approach allows the client to have a single authentication relationship with the gateway while the gateway handles the complexity of multiple certificate presentations to different resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway server performs multiple functions: it authenticates the client once, stores multiple resource-specific certificates, selects the appropriate certificate based on the requested resource, and presents it to the target resource. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate authentication mechanisms at the client level.
2Manufacturing precision
If separate sign-on procedures are required for each certificate-protected resource, then authorization precision is improved, but productivity and ease of operation deteriorate due to repeated authentication requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The client performs authentication once with the gateway server in advance, establishing a trusted relationship. The gateway server then uses this pre-established trust to automatically present the appropriate certificates to multiple different resources on behalf of the client. This preliminary authentication action eliminates the need for repeated sign-on procedures at each resource.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway server mediates between the single client authentication and multiple resource access requirements. It maintains the authorization precision by selecting resource-specific certificates while improving productivity by handling all certificate presentations automatically after the initial authentication, eliminating repeated user sign-on actions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If clients store and manage digital certificates locally for each protected resource, then authentication capability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to the burden of certificate selection and storage
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the certificate storage and management functionality from the client device and relocates it to the gateway server. The client only needs to authenticate once with the gateway, while the gateway stores and manages all resource-specific certificates. This extraction eliminates the user burden of locally storing and selecting multiple certificates while maintaining full authentication capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway server serves as an intermediary that assumes the burden of certificate storage and management. It maintains adaptability by having the necessary certificates for multiple resources while significantly improving ease of operation by eliminating user involvement in certificate selection and storage management.
Data Source
AI summary
In general, the invention is directed to techniques for enabling single sign-on (SSO) for a client seeking access to multiple resources protected by a certificate-based authentication scheme. For example, as described herein, a secure gateway comprises a certificate repository to store a digital certificate as well as a policy that includes one or more policy rules. A network interface of the secure gateway receives a message from a client device, wherein the message comprises a request to access a protected resource and an identifier for the requesting agent. The secure gateway also comprises a resource authentication module to map the identifier and the protected resource to the digital certificate based on the policy. The resource authentication module retrieves the digital certificate from the certificate repository and sends the digital certificate to the protected resource to authenticate the secure gateway to the protected resource.