Systems and methods for authentication and authorization for software license management

A method for providing authentication and authorization for software license management of a particular software-controlled application, the method comprising:

• receiving, from a user associated with a client computing device, a user request for user-specific authentication and device-specific authorization to access and/or use the particular software-controlled application, wherein the user request includes:
• (a) a user identifier that identifies the user,
• (b) a hardware identifier that identifies the client computing device, and
• (c) a machine identifier that identifies or includes a cryptographic key;
• performing a user-identifier verification that verifies whether the user identifier in the user request corresponds to one of a set of authorized users that are authorized to access and/or use the particular software-controlled application;
• performing a hardware identifier verification that verifies whether the hardware identifier in the user request corresponds to one of a set of registered client computing platforms that have been registered to access and/or use the particular software-controlled application;
• performing a machine identifier verification that verifies whether the cryptographic key identified in the machine identifier in the user request is included in a set of registered cryptographic keys that have been registered to access and/or use the particular software-controlled application, wherein the cryptographic key is a public key used during the machine identifier verification for Public Key Infrastructure (PKI);
• responsive to:
• (i) the user identifier verification verifying the user identifier in the user request corresponds to one of the set of authorized users, and further (ii) the hardware identifier verification verifying the hardware identifier in the user request corresponds to one of the set of registered client computing platforms, and further (iii) the machine identifier verification verifying the cryptographic key identified in the machine identifier in the user request is included in the set of registered cryptographic keys, transferring a particular response to the user request that indicates the user request has been successful;
• responsive to at least one of:
• (i) the user identifier verification failing to verify the user identifier in the user request corresponds to one of the set of authorized users, and
• (ii) the hardware identifier verification failing to verify the hardware identifier in the user request corresponds to one of the set of registered client computing platforms, and/or
• (iii) the machine identifier verification failing to verify the cryptographic key identified in the machine identifier in the user request is included in the set of registered cryptographic keys, transferring an error response to the user request that indicates the user request cannot be fulfilled due to error.