Method and system for enabling multi-factor authentication for incompatible third-party radius clients using a proxy server

A computer-implemented method for enabling multi-factor authentication for incompatible third-party Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (“RADIUS”) clients using a proxy server, wherein the incompatible third-party RADIUS clients utilize authentication protocol versions or attribute formats that are natively incompatible with an expected format of the RADIUS server, the method comprising the following steps performed by a processor within the proxy server:

• receiving, at the proxy server, an authentication request from a particular, third-party RADIUS client;
• validating, at the proxy server, the received authentication request for compatibility with the RADIUS server prior to authentication, comprising comparing the received authentication request against one or more predetermined compatible authentication request formats to identify missing or superfluous attributes;
• determining, at the proxy server, whether modification of the request is required prior to authentication;
• modifying, at the proxy server, the received authentication request from the third-party RADIUS clients prior to authentication, if during the determining step it was determined that modification of the request is required, wherein the modifying comprises at least one of adding one or more missing attributes required by the RADIUS server or removing one or more superfluous attributes not required by the RADIUS server to ensure each of the received authentication request's validity and format compatibility with the RADIUS server for authentication and authorization;
• forwarding, by the proxy server, the validated and modified authentication request to the RADIUS server;
• receiving, at the proxy server, a response from the RADIUS server;
• translating, at the proxy server, the response from the RADIUS server into a compatible format for the particular, third-party RADIUS client;
• and
• forwarding, by the proxy server, the response from the RADIUS server to the particular, third-party RADIUS client.