Password authentication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769179-B2
Application number	US-201615156064-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2016
Priority date	Feb 29, 2012
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A user credential comprising a user password and a one-time password (OTP) may be provided to access a computing system. The user password is authenticated and the network connection status of the computing system is determined. If the computing system is offline, the user password and the OTP are stored in memory and the user is granted a first level of access to the computing system. Upon detecting that the network connection status of the computing system has changed to online, the user password and the OTP are provided to an authentication server for authentication. If the authentication of the user password and the OTP is successful, the user is granted a second level of access to the computing system, the second level of access being higher than the first level of access.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a credential to access a computer system, the credential comprising a user password and a one-time password (OTP);
in response to the computer system being unable to access an authentication server and unable to authenticate the OTP using the authentication server, storing, by a processor, the OTP and the user password to be used in a subsequent authentication by the authentication server and granting a user a first level of access to the computer system in view of authenticating the user password by the processor using a stored password and without authenticating the OTP;
checking whether the computer system is able to access the authentication server; and
in response to the computer system being able to access the authentication server, authenticating the stored OTP using the authentication server and granting, by the processor, the user a second level of access to the computer system, the second level of access being different than the first level of access.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to authenticating the stored OTP and the stored user password, granting the user an access ticket to access one or more of network resources and network services.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
after failing to authenticate the stored OTP or the stored user password, performing one or more security measures.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein performing the one or more security measures comprises locking the computer system in response to the stored user password being invalid.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein performing the one or more security measures comprises:
requesting a second OTP if the stored OTP is invalid;
receiving the second OTP;
authenticating the second OTP and the stored user password using the authentication server; and
after authenticating the second OTP and the stored user password, granting the user the second level of access to the computer system.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
after failing to authenticate the second OTP or the stored user password, locking the computer system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the OTP comprises an event-based OTP.

8. An apparatus comprising:
a memory to store a one-time password (OTP); and
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, to:
receive a credential to access a computer system, the credential comprising a user password and the one-time password (OTP);
in response to the computer system being unable to access an authentication server and unable to authenticate the OTP using the authentication server, store the OTP and the user password to be used in a subsequent authentication by the authentication server and grant a user account a first level of access to the computer system in view of authenticating the user password using a stored password and without authenticating the OTP;
check whether the computer system is able to access the authentication server; and
in response to the computer system being able to access the authentication server, authenticating the stored OTP using the authentication server and granting the user account a second level of access to the computer system, the second level of access being different than the first level of access.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further to:
in response to authenticating the stored OTP and the stored user password, grant the user account an access ticket to access one or more of network resources and network services.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further to:
after failing to authenticate the stored OTP or the stored user password, perform one or more security measures.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to perform the one or more security measures, the processor is to lock the computer system in response to the stored user password being invalid.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to perform the one or more security measures, the processor to:
request a second OTP if the stored OTP is invalid;
receive the second OTP;
authenticate the second OTP and the stored user password using the authentication server; and
after authenticating the second OTP and the stored user password, grant the user account the second level of access to the computer system.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further to:
after failing to authenticate the second OTP or the stored user password, lock the computer system.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the OTP comprises an event-based OTP.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
receive a credential to access a computer system, the credential comprising a user password and a one-time password (OTP);
in response to the computer system being unable to access an authentication server and unable to authenticate the OTP using the authentication server, store, by the processor, the OTP and the user password to be used in a subsequent authentication by the authentication server and grant a user a first level of access to the computer system in view of authenticating the user password by the processor using a stored password and without authenticating the OTP;
check whether the computer system is able to access the authentication server; and
in response to the computer system being able to access the authentication server, authenticate the stored OTP and the user password using the authentication server and granting, by the processor, the user a second level of access to the computer system, the second level of access being different than the first level of access.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further to:
in response to authenticating the stored OTP and the stored user password, grant the user an access ticket to access one or more of network resources and network services.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor further to:
after failing to authenticate the stored OTP or the stored user password, perform one or more security measures.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein to perform the one or more security measures the processor to lock the computer system if the stored user password is invalid.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein to perform the one or more security measures the processor to:
request a second OTP when the stored OTP is invalid;
receive the second OTP;
authenticate the second OTP and the stored user password using the authentication server; and
after authenticating the second OTP and the stored user password, grant the user the second level of access to the computer system.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the processor is further to:
after failing to authenticate the second OTP or the stored user password, lock the computer system.

Assignees

• Red Hat Inc

Inventors

• Pal Dmitri V
• Gallagher Stephen J

Classifications

• H04L9/3226

  using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN (network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083) · CPC title

• H04L63/067

  using one-time keys (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for generation of one-time passwords H04L9/0863) · CPC title

• G06F21/33

  using certificates · CPC title

• H04L63/105 Primary

  Multiple levels of security · CPC title

• G06F21/31

  User authentication · CPC title