Trust Orchestrator for Dynamic API Trust Establishment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for establishing trust between service providers in cloud computing environments are manual, time-consuming, prone to errors, and expose sensitive information, lacking an efficient mechanism for automatic setup and management of trust artifacts.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for dynamically orchestrating application program interface (API) trust through a trust orchestrator that automatically establishes and manages trust relationships between service providers by exchanging trust artifacts, such as public key certificates, upon customer purchase orders, using a central facilitator to secure API communications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual methods are used to establish trust between service providers, then trust relationships can be established, but the process is time-consuming and prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
A trust orchestrator is introduced as an intermediary component that automatically manages trust artifact generation, exchange, and validation between service providers. The orchestrator receives trust establishment requests, generates appropriate trust artifacts (such as JSON Web Tokens), and facilitates their exchange between service providers, eliminating manual intervention and reducing both time and errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical process of trust establishment (manual configuration, file exchanges, certificate management) is replaced with an automated electronic system. The trust orchestrator uses programmatic APIs and automated workflows to generate, distribute, and validate trust artifacts, substituting human-operated mechanical processes with automated computational processes.
2Reliability
If manual trust establishment processes are used, then trust relationships can be created, but sensitive information is exposed and errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The trust orchestrator acts as a secure intermediary that handles sensitive trust artifacts during generation and exchange. Instead of exposing sensitive information through manual handling, the orchestrator manages the entire lifecycle of trust artifacts through secure automated processes, including generation, signing, distribution, and validation, thereby minimizing exposure risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses digital copies of trust artifacts (such as JSON Web Tokens) that can be programmatically generated, transmitted, and validated without exposing the underlying sensitive cryptographic materials. These token copies encapsulate the necessary trust information in a secure, standardized format that can be automatically processed without manual intervention.
3Productivity
If automatic trust orchestration is implemented, then efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trust orchestrator is designed as a universal, multi-functional platform that handles multiple trust establishment scenarios, supports various trust artifact types (JSON Web Tokens, certificates, keys), and works across different service provider configurations. This consolidation of multiple functions into a single system reduces overall system complexity compared to having separate manual processes for each trust scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses standardized parameters and formats (such as JSON Web Token specifications, standardized API interfaces, and predefined trust relationships) to manage complexity. By changing the representation of trust artifacts to standardized formats and using parameterized configurations for different service providers, the system achieves automation efficiency without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a purchase portal configured to receive a purchase order from a customer, wherein the purchase order includes a service from each of a plurality of service providers. When receipt of the purchase order is detected, a processor determines first and second ones of the service providers associated with the purchase order; and establishes a trust relationship between the first service provider and the second service provider in a context of the customer. The processor also sends a first request for a first trust artifact to the first service provider and a second request for a second trust artifact to the second service provider; receives the first trust artifact from the first service provider, receives the second trust artifact from the second service provider, sends the first trust artifact to the second service provider, and sends the second trust artifact to the first service provider.