Credential recovery with the assistance of trusted entities

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining a policy that requires at least one trusted entity to verify the identity of a first entity in order to facilitate credential recovery, wherein the determined policy describes the number of trusted entities that are required to verify the identity of the first entity;

receiving at least one communication that confirms verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity; and

based on the received verification, permitting credential recovery.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein permitting credential recovery comprises providing a credential to the first entity.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the provided credential is one of similar, different, or a derivative of an original credential that is currently unavailable to the first entity.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the provided credential is one of a password, a PIN, or a cryptographic key.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein permitting credential recovery comprises providing an opportunity to the first entity for facilitating generation of a credential.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein receiving at least one communication comprises receiving at least one communication from at least one trusted entity confirming verification of the identity of the first entity by the at least one trusted entity.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein receiving at least one communication comprises receiving a communication from the first entity confirming verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein receiving at least one communication comprises receiving at least one communication that confirms verification of a biometric characteristic of the first entity by at least one trusted entity.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining information in connection with at least one trusted entity that is suitable for use in confirming that at least one trusted entity verified the identity of the first entity.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the information is obtained from one of the first entity, an employee chart, or a social network.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein determining a policy comprises dynamically determining a policy from a set of policies that requires at least one trusted entity to verify the identity of the first entity in order to facilitate credential recovery.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the policy is determined from the set of policies based on at least one factor associated with the first entity.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the policy is determined from the set of policies based on the current location associated with the first entity.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to receiving at least one communication that confirms verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity, determining whether the requirements of the determined policy have been satisfied; and

in response to determining that the requirements of the determined policy have been satisfied, permitting credential recovery.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

based on at least one factor associated with the first entity, determining access rights; and

based on permitting credential recovery, granting the access rights to first entity.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the access rights are one of full access rights or restricted access rights.

17. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having embodied therein one or more software programs, wherein the one or more software programs when executed by a processor cause the processor to implement the steps of the method of:

determining a policy that requires at least one trusted entity to verify the identity of a first entity in order to facilitate credential recovery, wherein the determined policy describes the number of trusted entities that are required to verify the identity of the first entity;

receiving at least one communication that confirms verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity; and

based on the received verification, permitting credential recovery.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processing device, said at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;

wherein the apparatus is configured to:

determine a policy that requires at least one trusted entity to verify the identity of a first entity in order to facilitate credential recovery, wherein the determined policy describes the number of trusted entities that are required to verify the identity of the first entity;

receive at least one communication that confirms verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity; and

based on the received verification, permit credential recovery.

19. A system, comprising:

a first processing device associated with a first entity;

a second processing device associated with a trusted entity; and

a server configured for communication with at least one of the first and second processing devices over a network;

wherein the server is configured to:

determine a policy that requires at least one trusted entity to verify the identity of the first entity in order to facilitate credential recovery, wherein the determined policy describes the number of trusted entities that are required to verify the identity of the first entity;

receive at least one communication that confirms verification of the identity of the first entity by at least one trusted entity; and

based on the received verification, permit credential recovery.