Granted Patent B1

US 12,603,921 · App. 19/394,145 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventors: Philip David Hassey (Rye, CO); Justin Allan McCarthy (Redwood City, CA); Karim Fanous (Seattle, WA)

Assignee: strongDM, Inc.

H04L63/20H04L41/28

Abstract

Claims (111)

1 . A method for managing interactions with applications in a computing environment using one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions that cause performance of actions, comprising:

collecting a plurality of policies and a plurality of entities for the computing environment;

obtaining one or more indexes based on one or more features of the plurality of entities, wherein each entry in the one or more indexes is associated with a feature of an entity and one or more portions of the plurality of policies; and

employing an authorization request to perform further actions, including:

collecting one or more authorization attributes based on the authorization request;

collecting one or more index entries from the one or more indexes based on the one or more authorization attributes, wherein the one or more authorization attributes correspond to one or more entity features associated with the one or more index entries;

collecting one or more policies based on the one or more index entries, wherein each policy is associated with at least one index entry;

obtaining an authorization answer based on the one or more policies and the authorization request; and

reclassifying, using an execution resolver, one or more conditional policies as one or more trivial policies or one or more non-trivial policies based on one or more reduced policies; and

obtaining a user interface that includes one or more display panels for content that includes one or more of the authorization answer, an authorization report, a recommendation, or other information associated with the plurality of policies that is dynamically transformed and arranged for display to a user based on one or more of user interaction telemetry, user feedback or telemetry metrics.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the one or more indexes, further comprises:

analyzing one or more policy definitions of the plurality of policies to extract one or more entity references, one or more entity types, one or more entity identifiers, or one or more entity-related constraints; and

creating one or more index entries that map one or more entity identifiers to one or more security policies that reference the one or more entities; and

storing each policy in a relevant index entry that corresponds to a selective entity feature constraint associated with that policy.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more features include one or more of an entity type, an entity attribute, an entity tag, a hierarchical relationship, a parent-child relationship, a group membership, or an organizational relationship.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the authorization answer, further comprises:

collecting one or more first policies from the one or more policies that are classified as trivial policies based on the one or more indexes;

obtaining one or more first authorization results based on the one or more first policies and one or more index entries absent an authorization resolver;

collecting one or more second policies from the one or more policies that are classified as conditional policies;

obtaining one or more second authorization results based on the one or more second policies using the authorization resolver; and

combining the one or more first authorization results and the one or more second authorization results to obtain the authorization answer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the one or more index entries from the one or more indexes, further comprises:

collecting a first set of one or more index entries associated with a principal entity included in the authorization request;

collecting a second set of one or more index entries associated with an action included in the authorization request;

collecting a third set of one or more index entries associated with a resource entity included in the authorization request;

obtaining one or more ordering criteria based on one or more of a count of policies associated with each set, a count of entities associated with each set, or a configured priority order; and

obtaining an intersection of the first set, the second set, and the third set based on the one or more ordering criteria.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining one or more context attributes based on the authorization request, wherein the one or more context attributes include one or more of a date-time value, a network location, a network address, a geolocation coordinate, a device attribute, or a session attribute;

applying one or more partial evaluation operations to the one or more policies based on the one or more of a context attribute, a principal in the authorization request, an action in the authorization request, or a resource in the authorization request; and

obtaining the one or more reduced policies based on substituting the one or more context attributes into one or more policy conditional expressions.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

collecting a batch authorization request that includes one or more of a fixed principal value, a variable principal field, a fixed action value, a variable action field, a fixed resource value, a context attribute, or a variable resource field;

collecting one or more candidate policies based on one or more fixed values included in the batch authorization request;

collecting one or more relevant entities for each candidate policy based on the one or more indexes and one or more variable fields included in the batch authorization request;

obtaining one or more batch authorization results for each combination of the one or more relevant entities and the one or more candidate policies; and

aggregating the one or more batch authorization results to obtain the authorization answer.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the one or more policies of the plurality of policies based on the one or more index entries, further comprises:

obtaining a first subset of one or more policies from a first index entry associated with a first entity feature;

obtaining a second subset of one or more policies from a second index entry associated with a second entity feature;

collecting one or more candidate policies based on one or more of a union or an intersection of the first subset and the second subset; and

using one or more verification operations to confirm the one or more candidate policies match one or more entity features included in the authorization request.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the one or more indexes, further comprises:

obtaining a first index that maps one or more entity types to the one or more policies;

obtaining a second index that maps one or more entity attribute values to the one or more policies;

obtaining a third index that maps one or more entity tag values to the one or more policies; and

obtaining a fourth index that maps one or more group membership values to the one or more policies, wherein each index entry includes one or more of a count of one or more of an associated policy, a policy complexity indicator, or a selectivity metric.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the one or more of the plurality of policies, further comprises:

obtaining a first policy identifier from a first index entry associated with a principal entity included in the authorization request;

obtaining a second policy identifier from a second index entry associated with an action included in the authorization request;

obtaining a third policy identifier from a third index entry associated with a resource entity included in the authorization request;

comparing the first policy identifier, the second policy identifier, and the third policy identifier to obtain a match determination; and

obtaining the authorization answer directly from the one or more indexes based on the match determination indicating the first policy identifier, the second policy identifier, and the third policy identifier reference a same policy.

11 . A network computer for managing interactions with applications, comprising:

a non-transitory memory that stores at least instructions; and

one or more processors that execute instructions that are configured to cause actions, including:

collecting a plurality of policies and a plurality of entities for the computing environment;

obtaining one or more indexes based on one or more features of the plurality of entities, wherein each entry in the one or more indexes is associated with a feature of an entity and one or more portions of the plurality of policies; and

employing an authorization request to perform further actions, including:

collecting one or more authorization attributes based on the authorization request;

collecting one or more index entries from the one or more indexes based on the one or more authorization attributes, wherein the one or more authorization attributes correspond to one or more entity features associated with the one or more index entries;

collecting one or more policies based on the one or more index entries, wherein each policy is associated with at least one index entry;

obtaining an authorization answer based on the one or more policies and the authorization request; and

reclassifying, using an execution resolver, one or more conditional policies as one or more trivial policies or one or more non-trivial policies based on one or more reduced policies; and

obtaining a user interface that includes one or more display panels for content that includes one or more of the authorization answer, an authorization report, a recommendation, or other information associated with the plurality of policies that is dynamically transformed and arranged for display to a user based on one or more of user interaction telemetry, user feedback or telemetry metrics.

12 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the one or more indexes, further comprises:

analyzing one or more policy definitions of the plurality of policies to extract one or more entity references, one or more entity types, one or more entity identifiers, or one or more entity-related constraints; and

creating one or more index entries that map one or more entity identifiers to one or more security policies that reference the one or more entities; and

storing each policy in a relevant index entry that corresponds to a selective entity feature constraint associated with that policy.

13 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein the one or more features include one or more of an entity type, an entity attribute, an entity tag, a hierarchical relationship, a parent-child relationship, a group membership, or an organizational relationship.

14 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the authorization answer, further comprises:

collecting one or more first policies from the one or more policies that are classified as trivial policies based on the one or more indexes;

obtaining one or more first authorization results based on the one or more first policies and one or more index entries absent an authorization resolver;

collecting one or more second policies from the one or more policies that are classified as conditional policies;

obtaining one or more second authorization results based on the one or more second policies using the authorization resolver; and

combining the one or more first authorization results and the one or more second authorization results to obtain the authorization answer.

15 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein collecting the one or more index entries from the one or more indexes, further comprises:

collecting a first set of one or more index entries associated with a principal entity included in the authorization request;

collecting a second set of one or more index entries associated with an action included in the authorization request;

collecting a third set of one or more index entries associated with a resource entity included in the authorization request;

obtaining one or more ordering criteria based on one or more of a count of policies associated with each set, a count of entities associated with each set, or a configured priority order; and

obtaining an intersection of the first set, the second set, and the third set based on the one or more ordering criteria.

16 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors execute instructions that are configured to cause actions, further comprising:

obtaining one or more context attributes based on the authorization request, wherein the one or more context attributes include one or more of a date-time value, a network location, a network address, a geolocation coordinate, a device attribute, or a session attribute;

applying one or more partial evaluation operations to the one or more policies based on the one or more of a context attribute, a principal in the authorization request, an action in the authorization request, or a resource in the authorization request; and

obtaining the one or more reduced policies based on substituting the one or more context attributes into one or more policy conditional expressions.

17 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors execute instructions that are configured to cause actions, further comprising:

collecting a batch authorization request that includes one or more of a fixed principal value, a variable principal field, a fixed action value, a variable action field, a fixed resource value, a context attribute value, or a variable resource field;

collecting one or more candidate policies based on one or more fixed values included in the batch authorization request;

collecting one or more relevant entities for each candidate policy based on the one or more indexes and one or more variable fields included in the batch authorization request;

obtaining one or more batch authorization results for each combination of the one or more relevant entities and the one or more candidate policies; and

aggregating the one or more batch authorization results to obtain the authorization answer.

18 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein collecting the one or more policies of the plurality of policies based on the one or more index entries, further comprises:

obtaining a first subset of one or more policies from a first index entry associated with a first entity feature;

obtaining a second subset of one or more policies from a second index entry associated with a second entity feature;

collecting one or more candidate policies based on one or more of a union or an intersection of the first subset and the second subset; and

using one or more verification operations to confirm the one or more candidate policies match one or more entity features included in the authorization request.

19 . The network computer of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the one or more indexes, further comprises:

obtaining a first index that maps one or more entity types to the one or more policies;

obtaining a second index that maps one or more entity attribute values to the one or more policies;

obtaining a third index that maps one or more entity tag values to the one or more policies; and

obtaining a fourth index that maps one or more group membership values to the one or more policies, wherein each index entry includes one or more of a count of one or more of an associated policy, a policy complexity indicator, or a selectivity metric.

20 . A processor readable non-transitory storage media that includes instructions configured for managing interactions with applications in a computing environment, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors on one or more network computers performs actions, comprising:

obtaining one or more indexes based on one or more features of the plurality of entities, wherein each entry in the one or more indexes is associated with a feature of an entity and one or more portions of the plurality of policies; and

employing an authorization request to perform further actions, including:

collecting one or more authorization attributes based on the authorization request;

collecting one or more index entries from the one or more indexes based on the one or more authorization attributes, wherein the one or more authorization attributes correspond to one or more entity features associated with the one or more index entries;

collecting one or more policies based on the one or more index entries, wherein each policy is associated with at least one index entry;

obtaining an authorization answer based on the one or more policies and the authorization request; and

reclassifying, using an execution resolver, one or more conditional policies as one or more trivial policies or one or more non-trivial policies based on one or more reduced policies; and

obtaining a user interface that includes one or more display panels for content that includes one or more of the authorization answer, an authorization report, a recommendation, or other information associated with the plurality of policies that is dynamically transformed and arranged for display to a user based on one or more of user interaction telemetry, user feedback or telemetry metrics.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (400)