System, method and computer program product for access authentication
A method and technique for access authentication includes: responsive to receiving an access request from a user for a secure resource, transmitting a uniform resource locator (URL) to the user; responsive to transmitting the URL to the user, logging a timestamp for the URL transmission; responsive to receiving a request for the URL, logging a timestamp for the URL request; and responsive to verifying that a difference between the timestamp for the URL transmission and the timestamp for the URL request is within a predetermined time period, providing access to the secure resource.
1. A method comprising:
responsive to receiving an access request from a user for a secure resource, transmitting a uniform resource locator (URL) to the user;
responsive to transmitting the URL to the user, logging a timestamp for the URL transmission;
responsive to receiving a request for the URL, logging a timestamp for the URL request; and
responsive to verifying that a difference between the timestamp for the URL transmission and the timestamp for the URL request is within a predetermined time period, providing access to the secure resource.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the URL to the user via an electronic mail message.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to receiving the access request, querying the user for an electronic mail address; and
responsive to receiving an electronic mail address from the user, verifying the electronic mail address received from the user with a stored electronic mail address corresponding to the user.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a token; and
combining the token with a character string to form the URL.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the token comprises randomly generating the token.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a query based on data received from a third party corresponding to the user;
transmitting the query to the user;
receiving a response to the query from the user; and
responsive to validating the response to the query received from the user, providing access to the secure resource.
7. A system comprising:
a processing unit having access to a secure resource; and
an authentication module executable by the processing unit to:
responsive to receiving an access request from a user for a secure resource, transmit a uniform resource locator (URL) to the user;
responsive to transmitting the URL to the user, log a timestamp for the URL transmission;
responsive to receiving a request for the URL, log a timestamp for the URL request; and
responsive to verifying that a difference between the timestamp for the URL transmission and the timestamp for the URL request is within a predetermined time period, provide access to the secure resource.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the authentication module is executable to transmit the URL to the user via an electronic mail message.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the authentication module is executable to:
responsive to receiving the access request, query the user for an electronic mail address; and
responsive to receiving an electronic mail address from the user, verify the electronic mail address received from the user with a stored electronic mail address corresponding to the user.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the authentication module is executable to:
generate a token; and
combine the token with a character string to form the URL.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the authentication module is executable to randomly generate the token.
12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the authentication module is executable to:
generate a query based on data received from a third party corresponding to the user;
transmit the query to the user;
receive a response to the query from the user; and
responsive to validating the response to the query received from the user, provide access to the secure resource.