Device protection using pre-execution multi-factor process authentication

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processing given device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;
• the at least one processing given device being configured to implement the following steps:
• obtaining, by at least one software entity associated with an operating system kernel of at least one processing device, a request to execute a process on the at least one processing device;
• performing, by the at least one software entity associated with the operating system kernel, a first authentication of the process that evaluates a first set of information of the process;
• performing, by the at least one software entity associated with the operating system kernel, a second authentication of the process to obtain a verification result, wherein the second authentication of the process evaluates a second set of different information of the process;
• and
• allowing the process to execute on the at least one processing device based at least in part on the verification result.

A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing given device causes the at least one processing given device to perform the following steps:

• obtaining, by at least one software entity associated with an operating system kernel of at least one processing device, a request to execute a process on the at least one processing device;
• performing, by the at least one software entity associated with the operating system kernel, a first authentication of the process that evaluates a first set of information of the process;
• performing, by the at least one software entity associated with the operating system kernel, a second authentication of the process to obtain a verification result, wherein the second authentication of the process evaluates a second set of different information of the process;
• and
• allowing the process to execute on the at least one processing device based at least in part on the verification result.