Flexible end-point compliance and strong authentication for distributed hybrid enterprises

1. A method for use by a client computer to access at least one resource hosted by at least one server controlled by at least one service provider, comprising:

sending, from the client computer, to an access control gateway controlled by at least one enterprise different from the at least one service provider, authentication information associated with a user of the client computer and a statement of health regarding the client computer;

sending a request for the security token to the access control gateway;

receiving at least one security challenge from the access control gateway, wherein the access control gateway sends the at least one security challenge in response to the request for the security token, and wherein the client computer sends the authorization information and the statement of health in response to the at least one security challenge;

receiving, at the client computer, a security token from the access control gateway prior to attempting to access the at least one server hosting the at least one resource;

sending, by the client computer, to the at least one server hosting the at least one resource, the security token received from the access control gateway; and

accessing the at least one resource from the at least one server without further authentication processes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending, to the at least one server, a request to access the at least one resource; and

receiving, from the at least one server, an instruction to contact the access control gateway as a prerequisite to accessing the at least one resource.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication information comprises at least two user credentials selected from a group consisting of: a secret knowledge credential, a physical object credential, and a personal physical characteristic credential.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the statement of health regarding the client computer comprises configuration information regarding at least one protective component of the client computer, the at least one protective component being selected from a group consisting of: an anti-virus software, a firewall, and an operating system patch.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access control gateway is configured to determine, based at least in part on the access request information, whether the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource hosted by the at least one server, and wherein the security token is obtained from a security token service by the access control gateway if the access control gateway determines that the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource, the security token service being trusted by the at least one server.

6. A client computer for accessing at least one resource hosted by at least one server controlled by at least one service provider, comprising at least one processor programmed to:

send, from the client computer to an access control gateway controlled by at least one enterprise different from the at least one service provider, access request information purporting to indicate that the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource;

send a request for the security token to the access control gateway; receive at least one security challenge from the access control gateway, wherein the access control gateway sends the at least one security challenge in response to the request for the security token, and wherein the at least one processor is programmed to send the access request information in response to the at least one security challenge;

receive a security token from the access control gateway at the client computer prior to attempting to access the at least one server hosting the at least one resource;

send, from the client computer, to the at least one server hosting the at least one resource, the security token received from the access control gateway;

access the at least one resource from the at least one server; and

wherein the client computer includes at least one hardware processor.

7. The client computer of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

send, to the at least one server, a request to access the at least one resource; and

receive, from the at least one server, an instruction to contact the access control gateway as a prerequisite to accessing the at least one resource.

8. The client computer of claim 6 , wherein the access request information comprises at least two user credentials selected from a group consisting of: a secret knowledge credential, a physical object credential, and a personal physical characteristic credential.

9. The client computer of claim 6 , wherein the access request information comprises configuration information regarding at least one protective component of the client computer, the at least one protective component being selected from a group consisting of: an anti-virus software, a firewall, and an operating system patch.

10. The client computer of claim 6 , wherein the access control gateway is configured to determine, based at least in part on the access request information, whether the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource hosted by the at least one server, and wherein the security token is obtained from a security token service by the access control gateway if the access control gateway determines that the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource, the security token service being trusted by the at least one server.

11. The client computer of claim 10 , wherein the at least one server is configured to determine whether the security token is generated by a trusted security token service, and wherein the at least one server allows the client computer to access the at least one resource only if the at least one server determines that the security token is generated by a trusted security token service.

12. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method for use by an access gateway controlled by at least one enterprise, the method comprising:

receiving, from a client computer, access request information purporting to indicate that the client computer is authorized to access at least one resource hosted by at least one server controlled by at least one service provider different from the at least one enterprise prior to the client computer attempting to access the at least one resource;

receiving a request for the security token from the client computer; in response to the request for the security token, sending at least one security challenge to the client computer, wherein the client computer sends the access request information in response to the at least one security challenge;

determining, based at least in part on the access request information, whether the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource by forwarding at least some of the access request information comprising configuration information regarding the client computer to a health policy server controlled by the least one enterprise; and

if it is determined that the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource, sending a security token to the client computer to be presented to the at least one server to obtain access to the at least one resource.

13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

requesting the security token from a security token service trusted by the at least one server.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the access request information comprises at least two user credentials selected from a group consisting of: a secret knowledge credential, a physical object credential, and a personal physical characteristic credential.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein determining whether the client computer is authorized to access the at least one resource comprises:

forwarding at least some of the access request information comprising one or more user credentials to an authentication server controlled by the least one enterprise.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the access request information comprises configuration information regarding at least one protective component of the client computer, the at least one protective component being selected from a group consisting of: an anti-virus software, a firewall, and an operating system patch.