Authorization token cache system and method

#The present disclosure generally relates to token cache systems and methods. Access tokens and related information including credentials information and token metadata are stored in the token cache.

#As the Internet has matured, web services and web applications have proliferated. Some of the growth is based on the growth and rapid development of scalable remote computing services that are easily configurable and offered at low cost. Rather than build a server farm or obtain computing system infrastructure, users, whether individuals, companies, universities, or the like, may host their web services using fast and inexpensive remote computing resources instead often hosted and managed by third parties. Users may purchase use of computing resources, including physical and virtual computer processing entities, providing units of computing power, storage, and databases on demand. The units of computing power may provide access to protected resources and data stored in the storage and/or databases.

#Web services utilize a variety of security measures to ensure that clients accessing protected resources are authenticated and authorized to access the protected resources. There are a variety of different ways to provide secure access to protected resources, and this presents a problem for clients. In one example, a client may request access and data from hundreds of web services, each web service having a different way of providing secure access. The client must identify the specific security measures that are used for each web service. Conventional methods of client access to protected resources provided by web services have reached their limits and may not be sustainable.

#The accompanying drawings illustrate one or more embodiments and/or aspects of the disclosure and, together with the written description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment, and wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a token cache system according to an example embodiment.

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a client computing device having a token cache according to an example embodiment.

#For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same.

#The present disclosure generally relates to token cache systems and methods. In particular, the embodiments relate to systems and methods for requesting access tokens from a token service computer, caching the access tokens and related information in a token cache, transmitting the access tokens with a resource request to a resource server, and receiving requested resources in response to the resource request. The resource server transmits representations of requested resources to computing devices having valid tokens. The access tokens and related information including credentials information and token metadata are stored in the token cache.

#Before an application or service may access data from a web service, the application or service may obtain an access token that grants access to the data. Stated simply, the access token may represent security credentials and acts similarly to a valet key by granting limited access to a subset of data. Examples of web services include AMAZON WEB SERVICES™ (AWS™), SALESFORCE™, TWITTER™, FACEBOOK™, GOOGLE™, INSTAGRAM™, and PAYPAL™, among others. A single access token may grant varying degrees of access to the data based on user credentials and other factors. When a new access token is granted by a token service computer, the token service computer transmits the new access token to a client computing device executing the application or service. The client computing device caches the new access token in a token cache in addition to a representation of user credentials used to obtain the new access token and metadata that provides information associated with obtaining the new access token from the token service computer.