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US 8,806,593 B1Granted
Guest account management using cloud based security services
AssigneeZscaler, Inc.
InventorsJose Raphel, Kailash Kailash, Manoj Shriganesh Apte, Jagtar S Chaudhry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Guest accounts arise in a variety of ways. Hotels, Coffee Shops, internet cafes, internet kiosks, etc provide internet access to its guests, aka customers. Cloud based security services can serve as a platform for supporting efficient and safe guest account management. Guest accounts are managed by the cloud service and are associated and disassociated with individuals as needed by the guest account provider. The cloud service can also provide a guest account provider with greater control over guest account usage and accountability.
Claims20
A guest account management method implemented on one or more cloud service computers, comprising the steps of:
- A) receiving at a cloud service computer a guest account request for a user of an external system, wherein the cloud service computer is part of a cloud based security system located externally from the external system on which the user is requesting access with the guest account request, wherein the external system comprises no on-premises security appliances for providing guest account management and access, and wherein the cloud service computer is communicatively coupled to the external system via the Internet;
- B) associating a first guest account with information identifying the user;
- C) generating initial credential for the first guest account;
- D) transmitting the initial credentials to an output device from which the user can receive the initial credential;
- E) logging-in the first guest account upon receipt of the initial credentials from a client device;
- F) receiving a service request from the client device, wherein the client device connects to the cloud service computer for all requests comprising the service request over the Internet via a tunnel, a transparent proxy, a forward proxy, or redirection, and wherein the request are relayed to the Internet responsive to the logging-in;
- G) servicing the service request;
- H) inspecting results of servicing the service request or the received service request for compliance with one or more service policies associated with the first guest account, wherein the one or more service policies comprise usage restrictions and content restrictions;
- I) forwarding the results to the client device;
- and
- J) adding information regarding the service request to an activity log associated with the user.
8 more elements
A cloud service system that manages guests accounts, the cloud service system comprising:
- a plurality of servers forming a cloud based security system located externally from an external system on which a user is requesting access with a guest account request, and wherein the external system comprises no on-premises security appliances for providing guest account management and access, wherein the plurality of servers are communicatively coupled to the external system via the Internet, each of the plurality of servers comprises:
- A) a data store comprising storage elements capable of storing information related to accounts and service policies;
- and
- B) a system processor comprising one or more processing elements, wherein the system processor is communicatively coupled to the data store and is configured or programmed to at least:
- i) receive the guest account request for the user;
- ii) associate a first guest account with information identifying the user;
- iii) generate initial credential for the first guest account;
- iv) transmit the initial credentials to an output device from which the user can receive the initial credential;
- v) log-in the first guest account upon receipt of the initial credentials from a client device;
- vi) receive a service request from the client device, wherein the client device connects to the cloud based security system for all requests comprising the service request over the Internet via a tunnel, a transparent proxy, a forward proxy, or redirection, and wherein the request are relayed to the Internet responsive to the log-in;
- vii) service the service request;
- viii) inspect the received service request and results of servicing the service request for compliance with one or more service policies associated with the first guest account, wherein the one or more service policies comprise usage restrictions and content restrictions;
- and
- ix) if the received service requests and the results comply with the one or more policies, forward the results to the client device.
11 more elements
One or more non-transitory computer readable-media storing instructions that upon execution by one or more cloud service system cause the system to at least:
- A) receive a guest account request for a user;
- B) associate a first guest account with information identifying the user;
- C) generate initial credential for the guest account;
- D) transmit the initial credentials to an output device from which the user can receive the initial credential;
- E) log-in the guest account upon receipt of the initial credentials from a client device;
- F) receive a service request from the client device;
- G) service the service request;
- H) inspect the received service request and results of servicing the service request for compliance with one or more service policies associated with the first guest account, wherein the one or more service policies comprise usage restrictions and content restrictions;
- I) if the received service request and the results comply with the one or more policies, forward the results to the client device;
- and
- J) add information regarding the service request to an activity log associated with the user;
- wherein the cloud service system is part of a cloud based security system located externally from an external system on which the user is requesting access with the guest account request, wherein the external system comprises no on-premises security appliances for providing guest account management and access, wherein the cloud service system is communicatively coupled to the external system via the Internet, and wherein the client device connects to the cloud service systems for all requests comprising the service request over the Internet via a tunnel, a transparent proxy, a forward proxy, or redirection, and wherein the request are relayed to the Internet responsive to the log-in.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.