Subscription Proxy Credential Replacement for Secure CDN Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current content delivery networks (CDNs) face challenges in securely proxying content due to the need for direct authentication and credential management across multiple systems, which can be complex and insecure, especially in corporate networks where sensitive credentials are not distributed to all end-user systems.
Innovation Solution
A subscription proxy service dynamically replaces security credentials using a software library for SSL and HTTP, allowing bidirectional communication to validate and re-encode requests with appropriate digital certificates, thereby enabling secure proxying without requiring end-user systems to register directly with the CDN or certificate authority.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If digital certificates are distributed directly to end-user systems for CDN access, then authentication capability is improved, but security is worsened due to exposure of sensitive credentials in corporate networks
Solution Approach 1:
A subscription proxy is introduced as an intermediary component that receives requests from end-user systems with their credentials, validates them, and forwards authenticated requests to the CDN. The proxy acts as a mediator that eliminates the need for direct credential distribution to end-user systems, thereby maintaining authentication capability while preventing credential exposure in the corporate network environment
2Speed
If direct authentication between end-user systems and CDN is implemented, then authentication speed is improved, but device complexity is worsened due to credential management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The credential management functionality is extracted from end-user systems and consolidated into the subscription proxy. The proxy maintains credential stores and handles all authentication logic, while end-user systems only need to present their credentials to the proxy. This extraction reduces device complexity at the end-user level while maintaining fast authentication through the centralized proxy
3Reliability
If security credentials are stored on end-user systems, then authentication capability is improved, but security is worsened due to potential credential compromise
Solution Approach 1:
The subscription proxy serves as a secure intermediary that stores and manages credentials centrally, eliminating the need for end-user systems to store sensitive credential data. The proxy validates credentials and forwards authenticated requests to the CDN, maintaining authentication capability while preventing credential compromise by keeping credentials isolated in a secure, centralized location that can be properly protected and audited
Data Source
AI summary
A subscription proxy receives, from an end user system, a request for a resource provided by a content delivery network, the request comprising a local credential associated with the end user system. The subscription proxy identifies a remote credential associated with the content delivery network and corresponding to the local credential. The subscription proxy replaces the local credential in the request with the corresponding remote credential and sends the request for the resource with the remote credential to the content delivery network.