Simple, secure login with multiple authentication providers

An apparatus for distributed authentication comprising:

• at least one client;
• at least one authentication server being communicatively coupled to said at least one client via a telecommunications network;
• an application running on said at least one client and said at least one authentication server, said application comprising a client portion and a server portion;
• wherein said client portion comprises:
• means for taking and parsing an entered user name and password;
• means for combining said password and a service specific seed unique to an authentication server selected from said at least one authentication server;
• means for applying a hash algorithm to said combination to generate a first hash value;
• means for finding an address representing said selected authentication server;
• means for sending a data packet to said selected authentication server, said data packet comprising said user name and said first hash value;
• and
• means for iterating said at least one authentication server to find a correct authentication server;
• and
• wherein said server portion comprises:
• means for extracting said user name and said first hash value from said data packet;
• means for checking and retrieving said user's password from said selected authentication server's database;
• means for combining said retrieved password and said service specific seed unique to said selected authentication server;
• means for applying said hash algorithm to said combination completed in said server portion to generate a second hash value;
• means for comparing said first hash value and said second hash value, wherein a matching result of said two hash values indicates a successful authentication;
• and
• means for caching and distributing said positive authentication result.

In a computerized network comprising at least one client and a plurality of authentication servers, said client and said authentication servers being communicatively coupled to each other via a global telecommunications network, a distributed authentication system comprising:

• a client;
• and a server;
• wherein said client comprises:
• means for taking and parsing an entered user name and password;
• means for generating a time stamp;
• means for combining said password and a service specific seed unique to an authentication server selected from a list of authentication servers;
• means for applying a hash algorithm to said combination and said time stamp to generate a first hash value;
• means for finding an address representing said selected authentication server;
• means for sending a data packet to said selected authentication server, said data packet comprising said user name, said time stamp, and said first hash value;
• and
• means for iterating said list of authentication servers to find a correct authentication server;
• and
• wherein said server comprises:
• means for extracting said user name, said time stamp, and said first hash value from said data packet;
• means for checking and retrieving said user's password from said selected authentication server's database;
• means for combining said time stamp, said retrieved password and said service specific seed unique to said selected authentication server;
• means for applying said hash algorithm to said combination completed in said server portion to generate a second hash value;
• means for comparing said first hash value and said second hash value, wherein a matching result of said two hash values indicates a successful authentication;
• and
• means for caching and distributing said positive authentication result.

In a computerized network which is registered with a unique domain name, said network comprising at least one client and a plurality of authentication servers, said client and said authentication servers being communicatively coupled to each other via a global telecommunications network, each of said authentication servers having a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) which is a local host name with said unique domain name appended, a distributed authentication system for providing distributed authentication service, wherein a given user enters a global user identification (GUID) and a password for authentication to be carried out at a target authentication server, said GUID comprising a user name, a delimitation symbol, and a domain which is same as said local host name of said target authentication server, said distributed authentication system comprising:

• a client;
• and
• a server;
• wherein said client comprises:
• means for parsing an entered GUID and extracting said domain therefrom;
• means for appending said unique domain to said domain to form a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for said target authentication server;
• means for translating said FQDN to an address representing said target authentication server;
• means for generating a time stamp;
• means for combining said password and a service specific seed unique to said target authentication server;
• means for applying a hash algorithm to said combination and said time stamp to generate a first hash value;
• and
• means for sending a data packet to said target authentication server, said data packet comprising said first hash value, said user name, and said time stamp;
• and wherein said server comprises:
• means for extracting said first hash value, said user name, and said time stamp from said data packet received from said client;
• means for checking and retrieving said user's password from said target authentication server's database;
• means for combining said time stamp, said retrieved password, and said service specific seed unique to said target authentication server;
• means for applying said hash algorithm to said combination completed in said server portion to generate a second hash value;
• means for comparing said first hash value and said second hash value, wherein a matching result of said two hash values indicates a successful authentication;
• and
• means for caching and distributing said positive authentication result.