Patent ID: 7734911
Filing Date: 2010-06-08
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An article of manufacture A for authenticating a user of a communications network, comprising: computer readable storage medium; and logic stored on the storage medium, wherein the stored logic is configured to be readable by a computer representing an authenticating entity and thereby cause the computer to operate so as to: receive, from the user via the network, a cookie including a user identifier and an augmenting factor transformed with one of a private key and a public key of a first asymmetric crypto-key or transformed with a symmetric crypto-key; recover the augmenting factor, from the transformed augmenting factor included in the received cookie, with the other of the private key and the public key of the first asymmetric crypto-key or with the symmetric crypto-key; validate the recovered augmenting factor; transmit, to the user via the network, a customized login page corresponding to the user identifier included in the received cookie wherein the customized login page is transmitted only if the recovered augmenting factor is validated; receive, via the network responsive to the transmission of the customized login page, a factor from the user; generate a first key portion based on the received factor and the recovered augmenting factor; and validate the generated first key portion based on (i) a second key portion of one of a private key and a public key of a second asymmetric crypto-key associated with the user and (ii) the other of the private key and the public key of the second asymmetric crypto-key, to thereby authenticate the user; wherein the augmenting factor is one of a private key and a public key of a third asymmetric crypto-key; and wherein the recovered augmenting factor is validated based on the other of the private key and the public key of the third asymmetric crypto-key.