Conserving computing resources via application-level authentication of action execution requests

1 . A system comprising:

remote host computing system comprising a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory including instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a client device via a network, at a host server of the remote host computing system and at an action execution application thereof having action execution functionality defined by the instructions in the memory, a request to execute an action, the request including compiled client authentication information comprising at least a client digital certificate and client login credentials unique to the action execution application;

separating, by the action execution application, the client digital certificate from the client login credentials;

implementing an application-level operation to authenticate the client without employing a middleware, network, or operating system layer and without a need to communicate with or rely on any third party system, including any certificate authority, by:

validating, by an authentication module associated with the action execution application, the client digital certificate by comparing the client digital certificate with a set of previously validated digital certificates stored in a digital certificate store in the memory of the remote host computing system, and

validating, by the authentication module, the client login credentials by comparing the client login credentials with a set of previously validated login credentials stored in a login credentials store in the memory of the remote host computing system;

in response to authenticating the client, identifying, by the authentication module, to the action execution application, the request to execute an action as a valid request; and

executing the action by the action execution application.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the action execution application is executable by the processor to authenticate the client using role-based access control authentication or attribute-based access control authentication.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication module is executable by the processor to:

communicate with an application programming interface (API) integration layer;

communicate with the client device via the API integration layer and over the network using a cryptographic protocol;

receive the request to execute the action; and

separate the client digital certificate from the client login credentials.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the authentication module is configured for web-based communications with the client device, and the cryptographic protocol is a secure socket layer (SSL) or a mutual transport layer security (mTLS) cryptographic protocol.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the compiled client authentication information is transmittable to the authentication module during an SSL or mTLS handshake between the client device and the authentication module.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein executing the action by the action execution application comprises causing the action to be executed by another application or another computing system.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote host computing system is a wire payment processing system, the action is secure wire payment, and the action execution application is a wire payment initiation application, the wire payment executable by the action execution application to cause a transfer of funds from an account associated with the client to an account associated with a receiving party identified in the request.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein validating the client digital certificate and the client login credentials by the action execution application during application-level authentication of the client is separate from and subsequent to any operations that occur during any secure socket layer (SSL) or mutual transport layer security (mTLS) communications between the authentication module and the client device to determine that the client device is authorized for general communication with the remote host computing system.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the client device is part of the remote host computing system; and

authenticating the client and granting subsequent client access to the action execution application is further based on at least one attribute of the client comprising client role, client department, client location, time of day, and client device type; and

the at least one attribute is checkable against adopted rules that are associated with the remote host computing system and specify what client attributes must be present in order to grant a client access to the application.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the client digital certificate and the client login credentials included in the compiled client authentication information received from the client device at the remote host computing system are stored in uncompiled form on the client device or are retrievable by the client device in uncompiled form from a remote data store for inclusion in the request to execute an action; and

the client device includes a compiler application that is compatible with the remote host computing system and is configured to cause the client device to compile the uncompiled client digital certificate and client login credentials prior to transmission of the compiled client authentication information to the remote host computing system.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:

the remote host computing system is a cloud-based computing system rather than a traditional data center computing system;

the host server is implemented at the cloud-based computing system as a physical server that includes the processor and the memory or as a virtual server that includes allocated access to the processor and the memory;

the action execution application executes on the host server of the cloud-based computing system;

the authentication module is a component of the action execution application;

the authentication module includes decompiling functionality that is compatible with the compiler application of the client device and is configured to decompile the compiled client authentication information received from the client device; and

the action execution application is configured to execute requested actions only upon successful application-level client authentication by the authentication module.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the action execution application is configured to perform application-level multifactor authentication of the client by:

receiving, as compiled client authentication information, both a client digital certificate and client login credentials in a single data structure in a single network transmission from the client device;

authenticating the client based exclusively on the client digital certificate and the client login credentials, without requiring any communication with any external certificate authority or directory service during authentication; and

executing the requested action only if both the client digital certificate and the client login credentials match respective sets of previously validated digital certificates and login credentials that are stored solely in memory of the remote host computing system.

13 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a client device via a network, at a host server of a remote host computing system and at an action execution application thereof having action execution functionality defined by instructions in a memory of the remote host computing system, a request to execute an action, the request including compiled client authentication information comprising at least a client digital certificate and client login credentials unique to the action execution application;

separating, by the action execution application executed by a processor of the remote host computing system, the client digital certificate from the client login credentials;

implementing an application-level operation to authenticate the client without employing a middleware, network, or operating system layer and without communicating with or relying on any third party system, including any certificate authority, by:

validating, by an authentication module associated with the action execution application executed by the processor of the remote host computing system, the client digital certificate by comparing the client digital certificate with a set of previously validated digital certificates stored in a digital certificate store in the memory of the remote host computing system, and

validating, by the authentication module executed by the processor of the remote host computing system, the client login credentials by comparing the client login credentials with a set of previously validated login credentials stored in a login credentials store in the memory of the remote host computing system;

in response to authenticating the client, identifying, by the authentication module, to the action execution application, the request to execute an action as a valid request; and

causing, by the processor of the remote host computing system, the action to be executed by the action execution application of the remote host computing system.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the action execution application authenticates the client using role-based access control authentication or attribute-based access control authentication.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the authentication module, when executed by the processor of the remote host computing system:

communicates with an application programming interface (API) integration layer;

communicates with the client device via the API integration layer and over the network using a secure socket layer (SSL) or a mutual transport layer security (mTLS) cryptographic protocol;

receives the request to execute the action;

receives the compiled client authentication information from the client device during an SSL or mTLS handshake with the client device; and

separates the client digital certificate from the client login credentials.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the action execution application causes the action to be executed by another application or another computing system.

17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the request to execute an action is a request to initiate a wire payment, and the action execution application is a wire payment initiation application that executes the wire payment to cause a transfer of funds from an account associated with the client to an account associated with a receiving party identified in the request to initiate a wire payment.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that are executable by a processor of a remote host computing system for causing the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a client device via a network, at a host server of the remote host computing system and at an action execution application thereof having action execution functionality defined by the instructions of the computer-readable medium, a request to execute an action, the request including compiled client authentication information comprising at least a client digital certificate and client login credentials unique to the action execution application;

separating, by the action execution application, the client digital certificate from the client login credentials;

implementing an application-level operation to authenticate the client without employing a middleware, network, or operating system layer and without a need to communicate with or rely on any third party system, including any certificate authority, by:

validating, by an authentication module associated with the action execution application, the client digital certificate by comparing the client digital certificate with a set of previously validated digital certificates stored in a digital certificate store in a memory of the remote host computing system, and

validating, by the authentication module, the client login credentials by comparing the client login credentials with a set of previously validated login credentials stored in a login credentials store in a memory of the remote host computing system;

in response to authenticating the client, identifying, by the authentication module, to the action execution application, the request to execute an action as a valid request; and

executing the action by the action execution application.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the authentication module is executable by the processor to:

communicate with an application programming interface (API) integration layer;

communicate with the client device via the API integration layer and over the network using a secure socket layer (SSL) or a mutual transport layer security (mTLS) cryptographic protocol;

receive the request to execute the action;

receive the compiled client authentication information from the client device during an SSL or mTLS handshake with the client device; and

separate the client digital certificate from the client login credentials.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the request to execute an action is a request to initiate a wire payment and the action execution application is a wire payment initiation application, the wire payment executable by the action execution application to cause a transfer of funds from an account associated with the client to an account associated with a receiving party identified in the request to initiate a wire payment.