Secure remote access for secured enterprise communications

A computer-implemented method of securing communications between a remote computing device and an enterprise, the method comprising:

• receiving a request for a secured connection from a remote device at a secure remote access gateway device using a set of service credentials maintained at the remote device;
• starting a service virtual data relay useable by the remote device to communicate with an authentication server within the enterprise;
• accepting the request for the secured connection at the secure remote access gateway device, thereby establishing a VPN connection between a VPN appliance associated with the secure remote access gateway device and the remote device;
• receiving user credentials from the remote device;
• providing user credentials to the authentication server within the enterprise;
• receiving specific credentials from the authentication server based on the user credentials, the specific credentials providing access to one or more computing devices within the enterprise that are within a community of interest accessible by the user, the community of interest including the one or more computing devices and the remote computing device, and obfuscating to the user and the remote computing device one or more other computing systems within the enterprise excluded from the community of interest;
• providing the specific credentials to the remote device;
• receiving a request from the remote device to terminate the secured connection;
• terminating the service virtual data relay;
• after terminating the service virtual data relay, receiving a request from the remote device to initiate a second secured connection from the remote device at the secure remote access gateway device using the specific credentials;
• starting a device-specific virtual data relay useable by the remote computing device to communicate with the one or more computing systems within the enterprise, the device-specific virtual data relay being provided with a community of interest key associated with the community of interest by the authentication server;
• and
• accepting the request for the second secured connection, thereby allowing the remote computing device to initiate communications with at least one of the one or more computing devices included in the community of interest without requiring communication of the community of interest key to the remote device.

A system enabling secured communications with an enterprise, the system comprising:

• a secure remote access gateway device operable as an intermediary between a remote device and one or more computing devices within an enterprise, the secure remote access gateway device configured to execute program instructions to:
• receive a request for a secured connection from a remote device using a set of service credentials maintained at the remote device;
• start a service virtual data relay useable by the remote device to communicate with an authentication server within the enterprise;
• accept the request for the secured connection at the secure remote access gateway device, thereby establishing a VPN connection between a VPN appliance associated with the secure remote access gateway device and the remote device;
• receive user credentials from the remote device;
• provide user credentials to the authentication server within the enterprise;
• receive specific credentials from the authentication server based on the user credentials, the specific credentials providing access to one or more computing devices within the enterprise that are within a community of interest accessible by the user, the community of interest including the one or more computing devices and the remote computing device, and obfuscating to the user and the remote computing device one or more other computing systems within the enterprise excluded from the community of interest;
• provide the specific credentials to the remote device;
• receive a request from the remote device to terminate the secured connection;
• terminate the service virtual data relay;
• after terminating the service virtual data relay, receive a request from the remote device to initiate a second secured connection from the remote device at the secure remote access gateway device using the specific credentials;
• start a device-specific virtual data relay useable by the remote computing device to communicate with the one or more computing systems within the enterprise, the device-specific virtual data relay being provided with a community of interest key associated with the community of interest by the authentication server;
• and
• accept the request for the second secured connection, thereby allowing the remote computing device to initiate communications with at least one of the one or more computing devices included in the community of interest without requiring communication of the community of interest key to the remote device.