Adaptive authentication systems and methods

Abstract

A machine-readable medium comprises data which, if used by a computing system, causes the computing system to (a) determine a first environmental factor corresponding to a first location of a user; (b) determine a second environmental factor corresponding to an identity of the user; (c) access first and second preconfigured authorization policies in response to determining the first and second environmental factors, respectively; (d) determine first and third security access mechanisms in response to accessing the first authorization policy; (e) determine a second security access mechanism in response to accessing the second authorization policy; (f) allow the user access to a first module of the computing system when the user complies with both the first and third security access mechanisms; and (g) allow the user access to a second module in response to the user's compliance with the second security access mechanism. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

1 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon data which, if used by at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to perform operations comprising:
 determining a first environmental factor, the first environmental factor corresponding to a first location of a first user;   determining a second environmental factor, the second environmental factor corresponding to an identity of the first user;   accessing a first preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the first environmental factor;   accessing a second preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the second environmental factor;   determining a first security access mechanism in response to accessing the first authorization policy;   determining a second security access mechanism in response to accessing the second authorization policy;   determining a third security access mechanism in response to accessing the first authorization policy;   allowing the first user access to a first module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with both the first and third security access mechanisms; and   allowing the first user access to a second module of the at least one computing system in response to the first user's compliance with the second security access mechanism.   
     
     
         2 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the first preconfigured authorization policy is preconfigured by a second user. 
     
     
         3 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 2  wherein the second preconfigured authorization policy is preconfigured by the second user. 
     
     
         4 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 receiving an access request from the first user; and   determining the first environmental factor in response to receiving the access request from the first user.   
     
     
         5 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , the operations comprising disallowing the first user access to the first module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with less than both of the first and third security authentication mechanisms. 
     
     
         6 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 determining a third environmental factor, the third environmental factor corresponding to a second location of the first user; and   accessing the first preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the third environmental factor.   
     
     
         7 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 6  wherein:
 the first location of the first user corresponds to the first user's presence on a specific network; and 
 the second location of the first user corresponds to a country included on a list, the list corresponding to the first authorization policy. 
 
     
     
         8 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , the operations comprising:
 determining a third environmental factor, the third environmental factor corresponding to a second location of the first user; and   accessing a third preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the third environmental factor.   
     
     
         9 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a first software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in a second software application. 
 
     
     
         10 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in the software application. 
 
     
     
         11 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon data which, if used by at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to:
 determine first, second, and third environmental factors;   access: (a)(i) a first preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining at least one of the first or third environmental factors; and (a)(ii) a second preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the second environmental factor;   determine: (b)(i) a first security access mechanism in response to accessing the first authorization policy; (b)(ii) a second security access mechanism in response to accessing the second authorization policy; and (b)(iii) a third security access mechanism in response to accessing the first authorization policy; and   allow the first user access to (c)(i) a first module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with both the first and third security access mechanisms; and (c)(ii) a second module of the at least one computing system in response to the first user's compliance with the second security access mechanism.   
     
     
         12 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 11  wherein the first preconfigured authorization policy is preconfigured by a second user. 
     
     
         13 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 12  having stored thereon data which, if used by the at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to:
 receive an access request from the first user; and 
 determine the first environmental factor in response to receiving the access request from the first user. 
 
     
     
         14 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 13  wherein:
 the first environmental factor corresponds to a first location of a first user; 
 the second environmental factor corresponds to an identity of the first user; and 
 the third environmental factor corresponds to a second location of the first user. 
 
     
     
         15 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 14  wherein:
 the first location of the first user corresponds to the first user's presence on a specific network; and 
 the second location of the first user corresponds to a country. 
 
     
     
         16 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 15  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a first software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in a second software application. 
 
     
     
         17 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 15  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in the software application. 
 
     
     
         18 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon data which, if used by at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to:
 in response to user input from a second user, present the second user with an option to preconfigure a first authorization policy with a first configuration and a second authorization policy with a second configuration;   wherein preconfiguring the first authorization policy with the first configuration includes configuring the first authorization policy to: (a)(i) be accessed in response to determining at least one of first or third environmental factors, the first environmental factor corresponding to a first location of a first user; (a)(ii) determine first and third security access mechanisms in response to accessing the first authorization policy; (a)(iii) allow the first user access to a first module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with both the first and third security access mechanisms; and   wherein preconfiguring the second authorization policy with the second configuration includes configuring the second authorization policy to: (b)(i) be accessed in response to determining a second environmental factor, the second environmental factor corresponding to an identity of the first user; (b)(ii) determine a second security access mechanism in response to accessing the second authorization policy; (b)(iii) allow the first user access to a second module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with the second security access mechanism.   
     
     
         19 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 18  wherein:
 the first location of the first user corresponds to the first user's presence on a specific network location; 
 the third environmental factor corresponds to a second location of the first user; and 
 the second location of the first user corresponds to a country. 
 
     
     
         20 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 19  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a first software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in a second software application. 
 
     
     
         21 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 19  wherein:
 the first module of the at least one computing system is included in a software application; and 
 the second module of the at least one computing system is included in the software application. 
 
     
     
         22 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon data which, if used by at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to:
 determine first, second, and third environmental factors;   access: (a)(i) a first preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining at least one of the first or third environmental factors; (a)(ii) a second preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the second environmental factor, and (a)(iii) a third preconfigured authorization policy in response to determining the third environmental factor;   determine: (b)(i) a first security access mechanism in response to accessing the first authorization policy; (b)(ii) a second security access mechanism in response to accessing the second authorization policy; and (b)(iii) a third security access mechanism in response to accessing the third authorization policy; and   allow the first user access to (c)(i) a first module of the at least one computing system when the first user complies with both the first and third security access mechanisms; and (c)(ii) a second module of the at least one computing system in response to the first user's compliance with the second security access mechanism.   
     
     
         23 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 22  wherein the first preconfigured authorization policy is preconfigured by a second user. 
     
     
         24 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 23  having stored thereon data which, if used by the at least one computing system, causes the at least one computing system to:
 receive an access request from the first user; and 
 determine the first environmental factor in response to receiving the access request from the first user. 
 
     
     
         25 . The at least one machine-readable medium of  claim 24  wherein:
 the first environmental factor corresponds to a first location of a first user; 
 the second environmental factor corresponds to an identity of the first user; and 
 the third environmental factor corresponds to a second location of the first user.