Packet Header Policy Coding for Zero-Trust Access Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network systems lack effective mechanisms to implement a zero-trust architecture, particularly in corporate networks where user permissions and device authenticity are dynamically verified to ensure secure access to resources, especially in the context of remote users and bring-your-own-device scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that injects policy coding, including user permissions and device information, into packet headers at the client device or VPN server, allowing enforcement points within the secure network to apply policy rules to determine access rights, thereby implementing a zero-trust model.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If policy information is injected into packet headers at the VPN server or client device, then dynamic authentication and access control are enabled, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Policy information is determined and injected into packet headers before packets are transmitted through the VPN tunnel. The VPN server or client device performs this injection in advance, so that enforcement points within the secure network can directly apply policy rules without requiring complex real-time authentication processing for each packet.
Solution Approach 2:
Policy information acts as an intermediary carrier that conveys authentication and authorization data from the VPN endpoint to enforcement points within the secure network. This intermediary mechanism simplifies the overall system by decoupling authentication from packet forwarding, allowing enforcement points to make access decisions based on pre-injected policy data.
2Reliability
If separate systems are used to determine user permissions after VPN authentication, then access control is maintained, but processing time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication and authorization functions are merged into a single policy determination process. Instead of using separate systems for VPN authentication and subsequent access control, the invention combines these functions by determining policy information that encompasses both authentication status and authorization permissions, then injecting this consolidated policy data into packet headers for efficient enforcement.
3Productivity
If policy information is included in packet headers, then enforcement points can efficiently apply policy rules, but packet header size and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Policy information is extracted from complex authentication/authorization systems and represented in a simplified, standardized format suitable for inclusion in packet headers. This extraction process converts detailed policy data into a compact representation that enforcement points can efficiently process without dealing with the full complexity of the underlying authentication mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for adding policy coding to packet headers for a user at a client device to use to access resources in a secure network. Packets are received from a user at a client device. A determination is made of policy information for the user defining user permissions to access resources in the secure network. Packets from the user are decapsulated and policy information into is included in packet headers of the decapsulated packets to transmit within the secure network. An enforcement point applies policy rules to the policy information in the packet headers to determine whether to forward the packets to a destination resource.