Single sign-on for unmanaged mobile devices

Disclosed are various examples for providing a single sign-on experience for mobile devices that may or may not be managed. A service provider receives an access request from a first client application executed in a client device. The service provider causes the first client application, using a redirection response that redirects the access request to an identity provider, to request an authentication token from a second client application executed in the client device. The service provider receives the authentication token from the first client application. The service provider then authenticates the first client application in response to verifying the authentication token.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. patent application entitled “SINGLE SIGN-ON FOR MANAGED MOBILE DEVICES” and filed Jun. 15, 2015 and assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/739,975, U.S. patent application entitled “SINGLE SIGN-ON FOR MANAGED MOBILE DEVICES” and filed Jun. 15, 2015 and assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/739,980, and U.S. patent application entitled “SINGLE SIGN-ON FOR UNMANAGED MOBILE DEVICES” and filed Jun. 15, 2015 and assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/739,972, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Users may have many different accounts for a multitude of applications and services. Examples of applications and services may include social networking services, file sharing services, email services, voice communication services, office productivity services, task tracking services, and still others. A user may have to establish a corresponding username and password to authenticate for each account. This becomes a difficult and inconvenient practice where numerous accounts are involved. Accordingly, users may set weak passwords that are short or otherwise easy to remember, share passwords among multiple accounts, use third-party password managers, or engage in other practices that might be regarded as insecure. Also, if an application requires multi-factor authentication, a user needs to provide each factor for each application, which can be frustrating.

The concept of identity federation arose as a solution to this problem. Under identity federation, a user establishes an account with a federated identity provider. To this end, the user specifies a single set of security credentials. The federated account is then linked to a multiplicity of applications and services that are provided by other organizations. When the user seeks to access applications and services that are linked to the federated account, the user can simply provide the single username, password, or other credentials of the federated account for authentication. In like manner, an organization such as an enterprise may use a directory service such as ACTIVE DIRECTORY by MICROSOFT CORPORATION in order to provide a single log-in for each of multiple applications and services of the organization.

Despite the availability of identity federation, the end user experience may still be suboptimal. Even assuming that users are able to employ a single federated account for multiple applications and services, the users may be required to enter the federated account credentials separately. For example, suppose that a user logs in with a social networking application provided by a social networking service provider that is also a federated identity provider. Subsequently, the user may want to use a file sharing application that is linked to the federated identity provider. The user may then have to supply the same username and password that was previously entered for the social networking application. Repetitively entering these security credentials for each application and service may frustrate users.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to providing a single sign-on experience for users of mobile devices. With a single sign-on experience, a user enters a single set of security credentials for an account and, upon authentication, the user is able to access multiple different applications and services that are linked to that account. Multi-factor authentication can also be employed where the user is required to provide a combination of knowledge, possession, or biometric authentication factors. As contemplated herein, the term “single sign-on” can include scenarios in which a user is required to re-enter security credentials due to session timeouts, inactivity periods, suspicious activities, or other events that could cause authentication of the user to be doubted.

In the context of a web browser, a single sign-on experience can be enabled by way of cookies. In response to a user logging in with a federated identity provider, a cookie can be stored on the user's device that contains a token indicating authentication. When the user later accesses another network site that supports authentication by way of the federated identity provider, the cookie is presented and the token can be exchanged for a site-specific token. Consequently, the user does not have to log in again to access the network site.

However, the single sign-on design paradigm from the browser context does not function in the context of mobile applications. Although mobile applications can invoke web views, mobile applications are often containerized. For example, the cookies of a containerized application cannot be used by other containerized applications. Even assuming that a user logs into a federated account by way of a first mobile application, the cookies and application tokens that indicate successful authentication are not made available to a second mobile application because they can have separate containers. As will be described, various implementations of the present disclosure facilitate single sign-on within mobile applications and other applications that embody this container limitation. Moreover, according to the present disclosure, the requirement to use a particular software development kit (SDK) for each application in order to implement single sign-on can be rendered unnecessary.

Specifically, in the present disclosure, examples are disclosed that enable a single sign-on experience for mobile applications that are not necessarily subject to management by a management service. Once a user signs in by way of a particular authentication application, that single sign-on can be leveraged by multiple client applications to authenticate with multiple different service providers, even if the client applications are published by different publishers or developers.

FIG. 1illustrates an example scenario100of a single sign-on experience according to the present disclosure. To begin, at101, a user can sign in by way of a particular single sign-on application. A user interface can be rendered that requests a username, a password, and/or other authentication factors from the user. The user submits the form by way of a log-in button or other user interface component. At102, the single sign-on application indicates that the log-in was successful. Subsequently, the user is able to authenticate his or her identity within a social network application at103, an email application at104, a file sharing application at105, and potentially other applications without having to provide security credentials.

With reference toFIG. 2, shown is a networked environment200according to various examples. The networked environment200includes a client device203, an identity provider206, and a plurality of service providers209a. . .209N, which can be in data communication with one another over the network212. The network212includes, for example, the Internet, one or more intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, other suitable networks, or any combination of two or more such networks. For example, the networks can include satellite networks, cable networks, Ethernet networks, and other types of networks.

The identity provider206and the service providers209can include, for example, a server computer or any other system providing computing capabilities. Alternatively, the identity provider206and the service providers209can employ multiple computing devices that can be arranged, for example, in one or more server banks, computer banks, or other arrangements. The computing devices can be located in a single installation or can be distributed among many different geographical locations. For example, the identity provider206and the service providers209can include multiple computing devices that together form a hosted computing resource, a grid computing resource, or any other distributed computing arrangement. In some cases, the identity provider206and the service providers209can operate as at least a portion of an elastic computing resource where the allotted capacity of processing, network, storage, or other computing-related resources can vary over time. The identity provider206and the service providers209can also include or be operated as one or more virtualized computer instances. Generally, the identity provider206and the service providers209can be operated in accordance with particular security protocols such that they are considered trusted computing environments.

The identity provider206can provide a federated identity service on behalf of the service providers209. To this end, the identity provider206can be in communication with an identity data store215that stores information associated with user identities. This information can include, for example, usernames, security credentials, biometric identity information, authorized client applications, unauthorized client applications, authorized client devices203, unauthorized client devices203, and so on. As will be described, users are able to authenticate by way of the identity provider206in order to access services provided by the multiple service providers209.

Each of the service providers209provides a corresponding service for client applications. The services can include, for example, social networking services, email services, voice communication services, enterprise information management services, productivity services, game services, and so on. In some examples, one or more of the service providers209can authenticate users separately from the identity provider206, thereby giving users the option to log in either with the identity provider206or with the service provider209directly.

The service providers209and the identity provider206can communicate with the client device203over the network212by way of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), simple object access protocol (SOAP), representational state transfer (REST), and/or other protocols.

The client device203can represent a processor-based system, such as a computer system, that can be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a set-top box, a music player, a web pad, a tablet computer system, a game console, an electronic book reader, or any other device with like capability. The client device203can include a display218that comprises, for example, one or more devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD) displays or other types of display devices. The client device203can also be equipped with networking capability or networking interfaces, including a localized networking or communication capability such as an NFC capability, RFID read and/or write capability, a microphone and/or speaker, or other localized communication capability.

The client device203can execute various applications, such as an authentication application221, a plurality of client applications224a. . .224N, and other applications, services, or processes. The authentication application221can receive security credentials from a user and to authenticate with the identity provider206. Upon authentication with the identity provider206, the authentication application221is able to request identity assertions from the identity provider206in order to authenticate the client applications224with the respective service providers209as will be described.

An identity assertion in security assertion markup language (SAML), for example, contains a packet of security information that service providers209use to make access control decisions. SAML supports three types of statements: authentication statements, attribute statements, and authorization decision statements. Authentication statements assert to the service provider209that the client device203authenticated with the identity provider206at a particular time using a particular method of authentication. An attribute statement asserts that a client device203is associated with certain attributes. An authorization decision statement asserts that a client application224is permitted to perform a certain action relative to a resource offered by the service provider209. Extensible access control markup language (XACML) and/or other languages can be employed.

The client applications224correspond to a variety of applications that are employed to access services provided by the service providers209. The client applications224can include a web view component, whereby the client applications224interact with the service providers209to obtain network content by way of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests and responses. However, unlike a browser that is used to access various web-based applications, one or more of the client applications224can be containerized applications. With containerized applications, cookies set through one client application224cannot be accessed by another client application224. The client applications224and the authentication application221can individually render a respective user interface227upon the display218.

Turning now toFIG. 3, shown is a sequence diagram300illustrating one example of interaction between the client application224, the authentication application221, the service provider209, and the identity provider206. Functionality attributed to each of the client application224, the authentication application221, the service provider209, and the identity provider206can be implemented in a single process or application or in multiple processes or applications. The separation or segmentation of functionality as discussed herein is presented for illustrative purposes only.

At step303, the client application224sends an access request to the service provider209. At step306, the service provider209redirects the client application224to request an identity assertion from the identity provider206. At step307, the request is redirected by the identity provider206to the authentication application221. In various scenarios, the identity provider206knows about the authentication application221, but the service provider209does not know about the authentication application221. At step309, the request for the identity assertion is redirected to the authentication application221.

At step312, the authentication application221renders a user interface227upon the display228. The user interface227requests one or more security credentials from a user. At step315, the authentication application221receives the security credentials from the user. Upon receipt of the security credentials, the authentication application221requests the identity assertion from the identity provider206at step318. In subsequent accesses by client applications224, the authentication application221can simply use a long-lived stored credential rather than user-provided credentials in order to authenticate with the identity provider206.

At step321, the identity provider206authenticates the authentication application221either using user-provided security credentials or a registration credential, such as a long-lived token or password. At step324, the identity provider206generates the requested identity assertion assuming that the client application224is to be permitted access to the service provider209using the federated identity. At step327, the identity provider206sends the identity assertion to the authentication application221. At step330, the authentication application221provides the identity assertion to the client application224.

At step333, the client application224sends the identity assertion to the service provider209. The service provider209then verifies the identity assertion at step336. At step339, the service provider209sets a session cookie with the client application224, where the session cookie includes a session token that permits the client application224to access resources provided by the service provider209. Subsequently, the client application224can simply present the session token in order to access the protected resources without requiring an explicit log in from a user. Further, other client applications224can log in to service providers209in the manner described byFIG. 3without requiring the user to provide credentials, assuming that a registration credential of the authentication application221remains valid and unexpired. That is to say, when other client applications224submit access requests, the flow can skip steps312and315and can rely upon the authentication application221to use its registration credential in order to authenticate itself with the identity provider206. Thus, a single sign-on experience is provided for the user.

Turning now toFIG. 4, shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of an authentication application221providing a single sign-on experience. Functionality attributed to the authentication application221can be implemented in a single process or application executed by the client device203or in multiple processes or applications. The separation or segmentation of functionality as discussed herein is presented for illustrative purposes only.

Beginning with step403, the authentication application221receives a request for an identity assertion. For example, the user may have requested to access protected functionality of the client application224. The request can be received by way of a local uniform resource locator (URL), which can specify callback information for the client application224. The callback information specifies how the authentication application221can transfer the identity assertion back to the client application224.

At step404, the authentication application221determines whether the user is already authenticated. If the user is not already authenticated, the authentication application221moves to step406. At step406, the authentication application221can render a user interface227on the display218that can elicit one or more security credentials from a user. This can include, for example, a username, a password, a one-time password, biometric identification, and so on. At step409, the authentication application221receives the security credentials by way of the user interface227.

At step412, the authentication application221authenticates with the identity provider206using the security credentials. If incorrect security credentials are provided, the identity provider206can return an error to the authentication application221, after which the security credentials can be requested again or the process can terminate.

If instead, in step404, the authentication application221determines that the user is already authenticated, the authentication application221transitions directly from step404to step412and can provide a token to confirm the previous authentication. In some cases, the authentication application221can be issued a long-lived token by the identity provider206to avoid having to provide the security credentials. That is to say, during subsequent authentications, the authentication application221can simply provide the long-lived token to identify itself to the identity provider206.

At step415, the authentication application221requests the identity assertion from the identity provider206. The request can include an identification of the client application224and/or the service provider209for which authentication of the client application224is requested. At step418, assuming that the client application224is to be provided with access to the service provider209, the authentication application221receives the identity assertion from the identity provider206. If the client application224is not to be provided access, the authentication application221can receive an error instead, which can be presented to a user through a user interface227.

At step421, the authentication application221returns the identity assertion. For example, the authentication application221can call a local URL with a predefined scheme name corresponding to the client application224. This local URL can be determined in some cases from callback information included in the local URL that invoked the authentication application221. The identity assertion can correspond to security assertion markup language (SAML). Thereafter, the process can proceed to completion.

Continuing toFIG. 5, shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of an identity provider206. Functionality attributed to the identity provider206can be implemented in a single process or application or in multiple processes or applications. The separation or segmentation of functionality as discussed herein is presented for illustrative purposes only.

Beginning with step503, the identity provider206receives an authentication request from an authentication application221executed in a client device203by way of the network212. The authentication request can include one or more user-specified security credentials or can include a registration credential previously issued to the authentication application221, for instance, a token or password. At step506, the identity provider206verifies the authentication request based at least in part on data from the identity data store215. For example, the identity provider206can compute a hash of a password supplied by a user, and then compare the hashed password with a stored hashed password in the identity data store215. Alternatively, the identity provider206can verify that a registration token is authentic. If authentication of the authentication application221is not successful, the identity provider206can return an error to the authentication application221. If authentication of the authentication application221is successful, the identity provider206continues to step509.

At step509, the identity provider206receives an identity assertion request from the authentication application221. In some cases, the authentication request of the authentication application221can be embodied in the identity assertion request. The identity assertion request can include an identification of the client application224and/or the service provider209for which the client application224has requested access. Alternatively, the identity assertion request can be received from the client application224directly, but subsequent communications are channeled through the authentication application221as will be described. At step512, the identity provider206verifies the identity assertion request. For example, the identity provider206can confirm that it is permitted to provide access by the client application224to the service provider209based at least in part on stored data from the identity data store215.

At step515, the identity provider206generates the identity assertion, which can include an authentication token. At step518, the identity provider206returns the identity assertion to the authentication application221. Thereafter, the process can proceed to completion.

Referring next toFIG. 6, shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a service provider209. Functionality attributed to the service provider209can be implemented in a single process or application or in multiple processes or applications. The separation or segmentation of functionality as discussed herein is presented for illustrative purposes only.

Beginning with step603, the service provider209receives an access request from a client application224. The service provider209then correlates this access request to the use of the identity provider206for authentication. At step606, the service provider209sends a redirection response to the client application224. This can include a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) redirection response with status code302. The redirection response can redirect the client application224to the identity provider206. The client application224can then communicate with the identity provider206by way of the authentication application221. The redirection response can include security assertion markup language (SAML) that requests an identity assertion.

At step609, the service provider209receives the identity assertion from the client application224. At step612, the service provider209verifies the identity assertion. For example, the identity assertion can include an authentication token generated by the identity provider206, and the service provider209can confirm that the authentication token is authentic.

At step615, the service provider209generates a session token. At step618, the service provider209can return an HTTP response that sets a session cookie including the session token with the client application224. The cookie can be stored by the client application224for later use. At step621, the service provider209provides service access to the client application224based at least in part on the client application224presenting the session token, encoded as one or more parameters of a query string of a uniform resource locator (URL) or encoded within a session cookie. Thereafter, the process can proceed to completion.

Referring next toFIG. 7, shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a client application224. Functionality attributed to the client application224can be implemented in a single process or application executed by the client device203or in multiple processes or applications. The separation or segmentation of functionality as discussed herein is presented for illustrative purposes only.

Beginning with step703, the client application224sends an access request to a service provider209. For example, a user may have launched the client application224or may have otherwise requested to access protected functionality for which the user has to be logged in with the service provider209. The protected functionality can include local functionality and/or functionality enabled by network content provided by the service provider209. At step706, the client application224receives a redirection response from the service provider209that redirects the client application224to the identity provider206. For example, the redirection response can correspond to a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) response having status code302. The redirection response can request an identity assertion from the identity provider206by a request expressed in security assertion markup language (SAML). The identity provider206can then redirect the access request to the authentication application221.

At step709, the client application224is redirected by the identity provider206to request the identity assertion from the authentication application221. For example, the request can be sent by calling a local uniform resource locator (URL) that has a scheme name corresponding to the authentication application221. The local URL can encode the request in a query string. To illustrate, the local URL can begin with “authapp://,” where “authapp” is the predetermined scheme name that is registered with the client device203to correspond to the authentication application221. In some implementations, a randomized unique identifier can be used instead to enhance security. The local URL can specify callback information, which can include a scheme name corresponding to the client application224. This scheme name also can correspond to a randomized unique identifier. The callback information can allow the authentication application221to call back to the client application224in order to return the requested identity assertion.

At step712, the client application224receives the identity assertion from the authentication application221. For example, the identity assertion can be received through the use of a local URL that encodes the identity assertion. As the local URLs are invoked, some screen flipping can be perceived upon the display218in some cases. Screen flipping can result from applications calling one another or when an operating system does not permit background applications. The identity assertion can include an authentication token generated by the identity provider206. At step715, the client application224authenticates with the service provider209using the identity assertion. In one scenario, the identity provider206can redirect the client application224to the service provider209to provide the identity assertion.

At step718, the client application224can receive a session token from the service provider209. The session token can correspond to an OAuth token. For example, the session token can be provided within a cookie, which the client application224can store in its container or data store for later retrieval. At step721, the client application224can subsequently authenticate with the service provider209using the session token during the course of a session. During the session, the client application224is able to request protected network content from the service provider209or perform other actions that might require user authentication. Thereafter, the process can proceed to completion.

The flowcharts ofFIGS. 4-7and the sequence diagram ofFIG. 3show examples of the functionality and operation of implementations of components described herein. The components described herein can be embodied in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. If embodied in software, each element can represent a module of code or a portion of code that includes program instructions to implement the specified logical function(s). The program instructions can be embodied in the form of, for example, source code that includes human-readable statements written in a programming language or machine code that includes machine instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system, such as a processor in a computer system or other system. If embodied in hardware, each element can represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits that implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowcharts and sequence diagram show a specific order of execution, it is understood that the order of execution can differ from that which is shown. For example, the order of execution of two or more elements can be switched relative to the order shown. Also, two or more elements shown in succession can be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some examples, one or more of the elements shown in the flowcharts can be skipped or omitted.

The client device203, the identity provider206, the service providers209, or other components described herein can include at least one processing circuit. Such a processing circuit can include, for example, one or more processors and one or more storage devices that are coupled to a local interface. The local interface can include, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or any other suitable bus structure.

The one or more storage devices for a processing circuit can store data or components that are executable by the one or more processors of the processing circuit. For example, the identity provider206, the service providers209, the authentication application221, the client applications224, and/or other components can be stored in one or more storage devices and be executable by one or more processors. Also, a data store, such as the data store121can be stored in the one or more storage devices.

The identity provider206, the service providers209, the authentication application221, the client applications224, and/or other components described herein can be embodied in the form of hardware, as software components that are executable by hardware, or as a combination of software and hardware. If embodied as hardware, the components described herein can be implemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any suitable hardware technology. The hardware technology can include, for example, one or more microprocessors, discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functions upon an application of one or more data signals, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) having appropriate logic gates, programmable logic devices (e.g., field-programmable gate array (FPGAs), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs)).

Also, one or more or more of the components described herein that include software or program instructions can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, a processor in a computer system or other system. The computer-readable medium can contain, store, and/or maintain the software or program instructions for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system.

A computer-readable medium can include a physical media, such as, magnetic, optical, semiconductor, and/or other suitable media. Examples of a suitable computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, solid-state drives, magnetic drives, or flash memory. Further, any logic or component described herein can be implemented and structured in a variety of ways. For example, one or more components described can be implemented as modules or components of a single application. Further, one or more components described herein can be executed in one computing device or by using multiple computing devices.

It is emphasized that the above-described examples of the present disclosure are merely examples of implementations to set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications can be made to the above-described examples without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure.