Passive security enforcement

摘要

Technology is described for enabling passive enforcement of security at computing systems. A component of a computing system can passively authenticate or authorize a user based on observations of the user's interactions with the computing system. The technology may increase or decrease an authentication or authorization level based on the observations. The level can indicate what level of access the user should be granted. When the user or a component of the computing device initiates a request, an application or service can determine whether the level is sufficient to satisfy the request. If the level is insufficient, the application or service can prompt the user for credentials so that the user is actively authenticated. The technology may enable computing systems to “trust” authentication so that two proximate devices can share authentication levels.

主权项

1. A method for passive authentication by a computing system, the method comprising:
receiving, by the computing system, multiple attributes of a first user, the attributes comprising a first subset of attributes comprising one or more attributes and a second subset of attributes comprising one or more attributes; determining by the computing system, from a set of types, corresponding types for each attribute of the first subset of attributes, wherein each of the types in the set of types has a corresponding weight; comparing by the computing system, based on the determined types for each attribute of the first subset of attributes, each attribute of the first subset of attributes to one or more previously stored attributes with a corresponding type, thereby selecting a first applicable attribute; passively authenticating, by the computing system, the first user at a first confidence level, the first confidence level based on the weights for the types corresponding to the first applicable attribute; determining, from the set of types, corresponding types for each attribute of the second subset of attributes; comparing, based on the determined types for each attribute of the second subset of attributes, each attribute of the second subset of attributes to one or more of the previously stored attributes with a corresponding type, thereby selecting a second applicable attribute; and updating, by the computing system, the first confidence level to a second confidence level, the second confidence level based on the weights for the types corresponding to the second applicable attribute;wherein each attribute of the first subset of attributes and of the second subset of attributes comprises at least one of: an event associated with the first user and a physical characteristic of the first user; andwherein each previously stored attribute comprises a previously stored user event, a previously stored user physical characteristic, or one or more previously determined acceptable values for the type corresponding to that stored attribute.