Secure access to physical and digital assets using authentication key

A method of securing, for a user, authorized access to a website, comprising:

• requesting, in a browser of a computing device, to login to the website based on an authentication tag associated with the user and applied to a physical object accessible to the user, the authentication tag being configured with a first dataset comprised of a random distribution of three-dimensional elements and with a second dataset comprised of machine-readable data elements, the first and second datasets together comprising an authentication key having key data that uniquely identifies the object and, in turn, the user, wherein the key data indicative of the authentication tag and the user is previously stored in a database of an authentication server;
• displaying, in the browser of the computing device, a machine-readable code generated by the website, the machine-readable code corresponding to a unique session ID, a time of the request, a URL of the website, and a URL of the authentication server;
• accessing a reading device of a mobile device associated with the user, the mobile-device being configured with a unique, unchanging hardware identifier, wherein the hardware identifier indicative of the mobile device is previously stored in the database of the authentication server;
• operating the reading device of the mobile device, by an app in the mobile device, to read the machine-readable code displayed in the browser of the computing device to extract the session ID, the time of the request, the URL of the website, and the URL of the authentication server;
• operating, by the app in the mobile device, the reading device of the authorized mobile device to read the authentication key with the reading device in response to a prompt;
• communicating, by the app based on the URL of the authentication server, the read authentication key, the read session ID, the time of the request, the URL of the website, a geolocation coordinate of the mobile device, and the hardware identifier, to the authentication server;
• and
• accessing the website, in the browser of the computing device, as a logged-in user based on the authentication server:
• determining that the read authentication key matches the stored key data, the time of the request matches authorized times of operation, and the sent hardware identifier matches the stored hardware identifier,
• retrieving a username for the user based on the URL of the website, and
• communicating instructions to the website to log in the user based on the session ID and the retrieved username for the user.

A method in a mobile device of securing, for a user, authorized access to a web site, comprising:

• requesting, in a browser of the mobile device, to login to the website based on an authentication tag associated with the user and applied to a physical object accessible to the user, the authentication tag being configured with a first dataset comprised of a random distribution of three-dimensional elements and with a second dataset comprised of machine-readable data elements, the first and second datasets together comprising an authentication key having key data that uniquely identifies the object and, in turn, the user, wherein the key data indicative of the authentication tag and the user is previously stored in a database of an authentication server;
• displaying, in the browser, a link generated by the website, the link containing information including a unique session ID, a time of the request, a URL of the website, and a URL of the authentication server;
• opening an app in the mobile device in response to a user selection of the link in the browser, the user selection of the link conveying the information to the app;
• accessing a reading device of the mobile device associated with the user, the mobile device being configured with a unique, unchanging hardware identifier, wherein the hardware identifier indicative of the mobile device is previously stored in the database of the authentication server;
• operating, by the app, the reading device of the authorized mobile device to read the authentication key with the reading device in response to a prompt;
• communicating, by the app based on the URL of the authentication server, the read authentication key, the read session ID, the time of the request, the URL of the website, a geolocation coordinate of the mobile device, and the hardware identifier, to the authentication server;
• and
• accessing the website, in the browser, as a logged-in user based on the authentication server:
• determining that the read authentication key matches the stored key data, the time of the request matches authorized times of operation, and the sent hardware identifier matches the stored hardware identifier,
• retrieving a username for the user based on the URL of the website, and
• communicating instructions to the website to log in the user based on the session ID and the retrieved username for the user.