Guided Workflow Policy Enrichment for Device Authentication

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Solution Overview

Problem

Network environments face challenges in authenticating and authorizing devices to prevent spoofing and impersonation, particularly in complex systems like IoT and cloud computing, where relationships among devices can be intricate and vulnerable to malicious entities.

Innovation Solution

A third-party server provides a guided workflow to manage interaction control policies by identifying devices through metadata analysis and recursive processes, generating policy recommendations to ensure authorized interactions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If manual authentication and authorization methods are used in complex network environments, then security control can be implemented, but the complexity of managing device relationships and policies becomes unmanageable

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecurity authenticationVSAvoidpolicy management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables automated device discovery and policy generation where devices self-register and the system automatically generates interaction control policies based on discovered device relationships, eliminating the need for manual policy configuration in complex network environments

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary system that automatically discovers device relationships and generates policies, acting as a mediator between devices and security administrators to simplify complex policy management while maintaining security

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If automated device discovery is implemented to simplify policy management, then ease of operation improves, but the risk of spoofing and impersonation increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepolicy configuration easeVSAvoidspoofing vulnerability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary authentication and verification of device identities during the automated discovery process, establishing trust relationships before policies are generated, thereby preventing spoofing and impersonation attacks in advance

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

3Reliability

If comprehensive device authentication is performed to prevent spoofing, then security reliability improves, but the time and computational resources required increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveauthentication securityVSAvoidauthentication time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary lightweight verification during device discovery and registration, establishing baseline authentication credentials in advance, which reduces the time and computational resources needed for subsequent authentication operations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4009583B1Automated device discovery and workflow enrichment
Publication Date: 2025.12.24 VALIMAIL INC
  • EP4009583B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP4009583B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP4009583B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

A third-party server, delegated by organizations to manage application environment, may maintain a plurality of guided workflow plans. At least one of the guided workflow plans may include one or more steps associated with setting up an interaction control policy. The third-party server may receive an interaction report associated with the organization. The interaction report may include metadata of one or more devices that interacted with other devices. The third-party server may identify a particular device to which existing interaction control policies of the organization are inapplicable. The third-party server may search for additional out-of-band information of the particular device using the metadata in the interaction report. The third-party server may select an applicable guided workflow plan for setting up an applicable interaction control policy for the particular device. A guided workflow may be presented via a graphical user interface according to the applicable guided workflow plan.