Unified Trust Platform for Multi-Cloud Ephemeral Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing access and security across multi-cloud environments is challenging due to the complexity of provisioning cloud services, lack of timely visibility into security and compliance, and the need for multiple cybersecurity tools, leading to data breaches and skill shortages.
Innovation Solution
A trust platform that provides a unified view of security and compliance across multiple clouds, offering ephemeral just-in-time access management, policy-driven control generation, and consolidated security and compliance controls, utilizing APIs to manage cloud assets and reduce the attack surface by creating temporary user accounts and automating security and compliance deployments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional cloud service provisioning methods are used in multi-cloud environments, then each cloud provider's services can be accessed, but the complexity of managing access and security increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple cloud service access points into a single unified access portal. The system consolidates authentication, authorization, and credential management across multiple cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.) into one centralized interface, allowing users to access diverse cloud services without managing separate access mechanisms for each provider.
Solution Approach 2:
The access management system is designed with universal functionality to handle multiple cloud providers and service types through a single platform. It provides multi-cloud support, unified authentication, temporary credential generation, and security policy enforcement that works across different cloud environments, eliminating the need for provider-specific management tools.
2Ease of operation
If permanent user accounts are created for cloud asset access, then continuous access is enabled, but the attack surface increases and security risks rise
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces static permanent accounts with dynamic temporary credentials that are automatically generated, time-limited, and purpose-specific. Access credentials have defined start and end times, and are revoked automatically after use or when no longer needed, creating a dynamic access model that adapts to actual usage patterns rather than maintaining perpetual access rights.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements disposable temporary access credentials that are created on-demand for specific tasks and automatically destroyed after use or expiration. These short-lived credentials minimize the attack surface because they cannot be reused after expiration and are revoked immediately when no longer needed, unlike permanent accounts that remain valid indefinitely.
3Reliability
If multiple cybersecurity tools are deployed to manage security across multi-cloud environments, then comprehensive security coverage is achieved, but the complexity of deployment and management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines multiple cybersecurity functions (authentication, authorization, credential management, policy enforcement, monitoring) into a single unified access management platform. This consolidation provides comprehensive security coverage across multi-cloud environments while eliminating the need to deploy and manage separate tools for each security function.
Solution Approach 2:
The access management system provides universal security controls that work across multiple cloud providers through a single platform. It implements unified authentication, authorization policies, and credential management that are applicable to AWS, Azure, GCP, and other cloud services, replacing the need for provider-specific security tools.
4Extent of automation
If manual security and compliance management is performed across multi-cloud environments, then detailed control is maintained, but time consumption and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated self-service capabilities where temporary credentials are automatically generated, distributed, and revoked based on predefined policies and actual usage needs. Security and compliance controls are automatically enforced through policy-based management, eliminating the need for manual intervention in credential provisioning and security monitoring while maintaining detailed control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary configuration of security policies, access rules, and compliance requirements before actual cloud asset access occurs. By pre-defining authorization policies, credential lifecycles, and security parameters, the system automates the enforcement of these controls in real-time without requiring manual security management during operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus comprises a processing device configured to receive, at a user interface of a trust platform configured to manage cloud assets operating in clouds of multiple cloud service providers, a request by a user to access a given cloud asset on which one or more workloads of a given entity run. The processing device is also configured to generate, on the given cloud asset utilizing application programming interfaces of the trust platform, a temporary user account responsive to determining that the requesting user is registered with the trust platform as an authorized user for the given entity and the given asset. The processing device is further configured to provide access credentials for the temporary user account to the requesting user, to monitor use of the temporary user account, and to remove the temporary user account from the given cloud asset based at least in part on the monitored use.