Method and apparatus for communicating authorization data

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/478,748, filed Jun. 16, 2003, entitled “Server-To-Server Communication of Parental Control Authorization Tokens”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0002] The systems and methods described herein relate to establishing, modifying and implementing permissions regarding access to Web-based content.

[0003] Increasing usage of the Internet and Web servers accessible via the Internet requires systems and methods to control access to Web servers and Web-based services. Web servers are typically capable of generating and distributing multiple Web pages containing a variety of different information. Some of this information may be confidential or otherwise restricted to being accessed by a particular group of individuals. For example, certain Web page content may be inappropriate for children. Other Web page content may be authorized for access by officers and directors of a company, but not for hourly employees.

[0004] The permissions or authorizations associated with a particular user needs to be reliably communicated to various Web servers and other Web-based service or information providers such that Web-based content is limited in the manner desired by a parent, an employer, a teacher, or other individual or entity. Many existing Web-based systems do not provide an access control mechanism to enforce the permissions desired by a parent, employer, or teacher. Existing Web-based systems that do provide an access control mechanism do not necessarily provide a secure process for establishing and modifying the access permissions associated with children, employees, or students. Without a secure mechanism for setting, modifying and enforcing access permissions, certain individuals may be able to access unauthorized Web content or Web services.

[0005] In certain Web-based systems, data is exchanged using untrusted connections. For example, these untrusted connections may include unsecure connections to the Internet and/or connections to one or more servers accessible via the Internet. Another example of an untrusted connection is a connection to a Web-server in which the identity and/or privileges of the user establishing the connection have not been verified. Thus, the Web-server cannot be certain that the user establishing the connection is authorized to perform the requested functions or retrieve the requested information.

[0006] Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for securely defining user permissions and controlling the user's access to Web-based content using those permissions.

[0007] The systems and methods described herein relate to permissions for accessing Web-based content. In one embodiment, a method identifies a selected permission level associated with a child's access to a Web server. A relationship ticket is obtained from an authentication server and a request to set the identified permission level is generated. The request and the relationship ticket are sent to the Web server. If the requested permission level is established, a success code is received from the Web server.

[0014] The systems and methods discussed herein communicate authorization information between devices, such as servers, thereby allowing each device to apply the authorization information to users requesting information or services from the device. These systems and methods provide a secure way of distributing, for example, parent-child relationship and permission information from a central relationship and permission database to other Internet Web sites. The authorization information (also referred to as “relationship and permission information”) includes, for example, parental control authorization information related to the a child of the parent. Other examples of authorization information include employer authorization information related to an employee of the employer and teacher authorization information related to a student of the teacher. In general, these relationships may be referred to as “Manager-Associate Relationships”. Various types of information in different formats (such as tickets or tokens) can be utilized with the systems and methods discussed herein. The systems and methods described herein do not require the use of secure communication protocols such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

[0015] Although particular examples discussed herein relate to parental control authorization information for the Hotmail® service (a web-based email service provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), the systems and methods described herein can be used with any authorization information and with any other application or service, such as other Web-based applications or services. Further, particular examples described herein include a Web server. However, in alternate embodiments, the systems and methods discussed herein can be applied to any type of server or other computing system.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary network environment 100 including a network authentication server, a Web server and multiple clients. A network authentication server 102 and a web server 104 are coupled to a data communication network 106. Multiple clients 108(1), 108(2) and 108(3) are also coupled to network 106. Clients 108 communicate with network authentication server 102 and with web server 104 via network 106. For example, clients 108 may execute a browser application that communicates with servers 104 and 106. Network 106 may include one or more subnetworks coupled to one another. In a particular embodiment, network 106 is the Internet. A particular network environment 100 may include any number of network authentication servers, any number of Web servers and any number of clients coupled to one another via one or more networks.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various components and information contained in example network authentication server 102. Network authentication server 102 includes a memory 202, a processor 204, a cache 206, an interface 208 and a storage device 210. Memory 202 stores data used by server 102 and generated by server 102 as it performs various functions. Processor 204 executes instructions that allow server 102 to perform certain functions. Cache 206 is a high-speed memory device that allows processor 204 to quickly access frequently used data. Interface 208 allows server 102 to communicate with other devices via network 106 or other communication links. Storage device 210 is, for example, a hard disk drive or other non-volatile storage device capable of storing data used by server 102.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, network authentication server 102 also includes a relationship and permission database 212. This relationship and permission database 212 is capable of maintaining information related to one or more different types of relationships, such as parent-child relationships, employer-employee relationships, teacher-student relationships, and the like. In the example of FIG. 2, relationship and permission database 212 contains parent-child relationship information 214. The relationship and permission database 212 also maintains various permissions and authorizations 216 associated with the supported relationships. In one embodiment, network authentication server 102 is a Microsoft® .NET Passport server. .NET Passport is an online service provided by Microsoft Corporation that makes it possible for individuals to use their email address and a single password to sign in to any .NET Passport-participating Web site or service. Additional details regarding the relationship information, and the permission and authentication information are provided below. Particular embodiments may include additional information and/or components not shown in FIG. 2.

[0019] The embodiment of FIG. 2 illustrates various permissions and authorizations 216 stored in network authentication server 102. In alternate embodiments, those permissions and authorizations may be stored in a web server 104 that applies the particular permissions and authorizations.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a procedure 300 that allows a parent to establish a child's access privileges to a Web site or a Web-based service. Initially, a parent decides to control a child's usage of a Web site or a Web-based service (block 302). The parent uses a client computing device to access a user configuration interface generated by the Web site or the Web-based service (block 304). The client computing device accesses the Web site or the Web-based service using an unsecure and/or untrusted communication link. An example of an unsecure or untrusted communication link is one that does not use any form of data encryption or other process for protecting the data from being read or understood by unintended recipients. An unsecure or untrusted communication link does not guarantee the confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity of the content carried on the communication link.

[0021] After accessing the Web site or Web-based service, the client computing device obtains a relationship ticket from a network authentication server (block 306). The relationship ticket is provided to the client after the parent has successfully verified their identity to the network authentication server. The relationship ticket contains information regarding the identity of the parent and the child as well as the relationship between the parent and the child (e.g., the parent controls the child's Web access privileges). The relationship ticket is encrypted such that the client computing device cannot decrypt the relationship ticket. Additional details regarding the relationship ticket are discussed below.

[0022] The parent then generates a request to configure the child's access privileges (i.e., for accessing the Web site or Web-based service) containing the defined protocol requirements (block 308). The client computing device sends the parent's request to the Web site or Web-based service (block 310). The client computing device also sends the relationship ticket with the parent's request. The Web site or Web-based service that receives the relationship ticket decrypts the relationship ticket.

[0023] After receiving the parent's request and the relationship ticket, the Web site or Web-based service authenticates the parent's identity with the network authentication server (block 312). If the parent's identity is not authenticated at block 314, the Web site or the Web-based service notifies the client computing device that the requested access privileges were not set (block 316). If the parent's identity is authenticated at block 314, the Web site or the Web-based service sets the requested access privileges and sends a successful response code to the client computing device indicating that the requested access privileges were set (block 318). Additional details regarding response codes are discussed below.

[0024] In an example of procedure 300, a parent may contact an email service to restrict a child's access to the email service. For example, the parent may restrict the number of incoming email messages the child can access, the number of outgoing email messages the child can send, email addresses from which the child can receive email messages, or email addresses to which the child can send email messages. Alternatively, the parent may prevent the child from sending or receiving any type of email message using the email service.

[0025] In a particular embodiment, the relationship ticket discussed above also contains an integrity check of the contents using a message authentication code (MAC). This integrity check is used in addition to the encryption discussed above. The server that receives the relationship ticket validates the integrity check to ensure that the relationship ticket is valid and has not been tampered with. If this integrity check fails, the server does not accept (or discards) the relationship ticket.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a procedure 400 for processing a child's request to access a web site or a Web-based service. Initially, a child attempts to access a Web site or a Web-based service (block 402). The Web site or Web-based service identifies the child's access privileges previously set by the parent (block 404), e.g., using the procedure discussed above with respect to FIG. 3. If the child is not authorized to perform the attempted access at block 406, the Web site or Web-based service prevents the attempted access by the child (block 408). Additionally, the Web site or Web-based service optionally notifies the parent of the attempted access by the child (block 410). If the child is authorized to perform the attempted access at block 406, the Web site or Web-based service allows the attempted access by the child (block 412).

[0027] A new protocol, discussed below, ensures security and reliability of the access control process, such as the parental control process, in a distributed environment. The relationship information between the parent-child relationship and the permission information are centrally stored by the network authentication server. The centralized information is securely transmitted to Web servers, such as a Hotmail electronic mail server, to ensure that the child's access to email is limited in the way that the parent desires. The protocol calls for any mediating client to obtain a relationship ticket from the network authentication server and then pass it on to the target site or server as a standard HTTP post. An HTTP post request is used to send data to a server for processing.

[0028] The network authentication server returns the success code if it can successfully persist the control/relationship values on its backend. For example, if a parent designates the child as a “managed restricted” account, any email that is sent to the child by anyone other than the ones in the permitted list of contacts will not be delivered into the child's account. Similarly, if the account is designated as “blocked”, the child will not be able to login into his/her account unless the parent modifies the child's permissions stored on the network authentication server.

[0029] Table 1 below contains examples of various POST parameters that may be used with the systems and methods described herein. “PUID” refers to a .NET Passport User ID assigned to .NET Passport users.

[0030]

TABLE 1
Name	Description	Restrictions
MgrPUID	PUID of Manager Account	16-digit hex
AssocPUID	PUID of Managed Account	16-digit hex and matches
		the PUID in the Managed
		Account's DAT file
MgrEmail	Complete e-mail address	In the format
	of Manager Account	[email protected]; i.e.,
		[email protected]
AssocEmail	Complete e-mail address	In the format
	of Managed Account	[email protected]; i.e.,
		[email protected]
MSV	Managed State Value:	0 - Not Managed
	[0 | 1 | 2 | 3]	1 - Managed (no restrictions)
		2 - Managed with restrictions
		3 - Managed and blocked
		(login to Hotmail forbidden)
Ticket	Encrypted Data (see below)

[0031] Table 2 below defines an example ticket structure (also referred to as a “relationship ticket structure”) that may be used with the systems and methods described herein.

[0032]

TABLE 2
Name	Description	Size
Version	Hard-coded to {0x01, 0x00} for this	4 bytes
	example
Timestamp	Julian time as returned by time( ) function	4 bytes
	call
Manager's	First 32 bits of Manager's PUID	4 bytes
PUID (Low)
Manager's	Last 32 bits of Manager's PUID	4 bytes
PUID (High)
Managed account's	First 32 bits of Managed account's PUID	4 bytes
PUID (Low)
Managed account's	Last 32 bits of Managed account's PUID	4 bytes
PUID (High)
Policy ID	GUID	16 bytes
Source status	enum	4 bytes
Destination status	enum	4 bytes
Relationship ID	GUID	16 bytes
Total		64 bytes

In the above table, “Manager” refers to the parent and “Associate” refers to the child. The server returns the success code after if it can successfully persist the control/relationship values on its backend. Any errors are returned via error codes when they arise. The response is a standard HTTP response with the status code returned in the HTTP status header. The values for the “Source status” and the “Destination status” come from a predefined set of constants that represent aspects of the relationship, such as whether it is pending, approved, denied, etc. “GUID” refers to a globally unique identifier that is used to uniquely identify objects and entities.

[0033] These controls will immediately come into effect. For example, if the parent designates the child as a “managed restricted” account, any email that is sent to the child by anyone other than the individuals in the permitted list of contacts will not be delivered into the child's account. Similarly, if the account is blocked, the child will not be able to login into the account unless the parent modifies the child's permissions.

[0034] Table 3 below identifies example response codes that may be generated by the Hotmail system and returned to the client.

[0035]

TABLE 3
	Code
Code	Description	Detailed Description
200	OK	No Problems or Errors
420	MgrPUID	MgrPUID missing or is not a string of
	Invalid	16 hex digits
430	MgrEmail	MgrEmail is missing or is not a valid email
	Invalid	address (not of [email protected] form, unprintable
		characters, spaces or control characters present)
440	AssocPUID	AssocPUID missing or is not a string of
	Invalid	16 hex digits
441	AssocPUID	AssocPUID does not match with ID in the file
	Not Matched
450	AssocEmail	AssocEmail is missing or is not a valid email
	Invalid	address (not of [email protected] form, unprintable
		characters, spaces or control characters present)
451	Assoc Account	No account with email AssocEmail exists
	Does Not Exist	at Hotmail
452	Assoc Account	The account represented by AssocEmail is down
	Down
453	ABCH Sync	The call to the Address Book Clearing House
	Failed	failed
460	MSV Invalid	Missing or invalid MSV value
470	Ticket Invalid	Absent or invalid ticket -- either the PUIDs do
		not match up or the ticket doesn't
		decrypt properly
471	Ticket Stale	The timestamp in the ticket is too old
480	Insufficient	Cookies for the manager not present or do not
	Manager	decrypt properly or do not match with
	credentials	MgrPUID and MgrEmail
499	N/A	Any errors that we don't know about

[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates a general computer environment 500, which can be used to implement the techniques described herein. The computer environment 500 is only one example of a computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the computer and network architectures. Neither should the computer environment 500 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the example computer environment 500.

[0037] Computer environment 500 includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a computer 502. For example, computer 502 can be used to implement the functions of a network authentication server, a Web server, or a client computing device as discussed herein. The components of computer 502 can include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 504, a system memory 506, and a system bus 508 that couples various system components including the processor 504 to the system memory 506.

[0038] The system bus 508 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, such architectures can include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and a Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus also known as a Mezzanine bus.

[0039] Computer 502 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Such media can be any available media that is accessible by computer 502 and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

[0040] The system memory 506 includes computer readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 510, and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 512. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 514, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 502, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 512. RAM 510 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently operated on by the processing unit 504.

[0041] Computer 502 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. By way of example, FIG. 5 illustrates a hard disk drive 516 for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 518 for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk 520 (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive 522 for reading from and/or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk 524 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media. The hard disk drive 516, magnetic disk drive 518, and optical disk drive 522 are each connected to the system bus 508 by one or more data media interfaces 525. Alternatively, the hard disk drive 516, magnetic disk drive 518, and optical disk drive 522 can be connected to the system bus 508 by one or more interfaces (not shown).

[0042] The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for computer 502. Although the example illustrates a hard disk 516, a removable magnetic disk 520, and a removable optical disk 524, it is to be appreciated that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory cards, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, random access memories (RAM), read only memories (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and the like, can also be utilized to implement the example computing system and environment.

[0043] Any number of program modules can be stored on the hard disk 516, magnetic disk 520, optical disk 524, ROM 512, and/or RAM 510, including by way of example, an operating system 526, one or more application programs 528, other program modules 530, and program data 532. Each of such operating system 526, one or more application programs 528, other program modules 530, and program data 532 (or some combination thereof) may implement all or part of the resident components that support the distributed file system.

[0044] A user can enter commands and information into computer 502 via input devices such as a keyboard 534 and a pointing device 536 (e.g., a “mouse”). Other input devices 538 (not shown specifically) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, serial port, scanner, and/or the like. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 504 via input/output interfaces 540 that are coupled to the system bus 508, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serial bus (USB).

[0045] A monitor 542 or other type of display device can also be connected to the system bus 508 via an interface, such as a video adapter 544. In addition to the monitor 542, other output peripheral devices can include components such as speakers (not shown) and a printer 546 which can be connected to computer 502 via the input/output interfaces 540.

[0046] Computer 502 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computing device 48. By way of example, the remote computing device 548 can be a personal computer, portable computer, a server, a router, a network computer, a peer device or other common network node, game console, and the like. The remote computing device 548 is illustrated as a portable computer that can include many or all of the elements and features described herein relative to computer 502.

[0047] Logical connections between computer 502 and the remote computer 548 are depicted as a local area network (LAN) 550 and a general wide area network (WAN) 552. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.

[0048] When implemented in a LAN networking environment, the computer 502 is connected to a local network 550 via a network interface or adapter 554. When implemented in a WAN networking environment, the computer 502 typically includes a modem 556 or other means for establishing communications over the wide network 552. The modem 556, which can be internal or external to computer 502, can be connected to the system bus 508 via the input/output interfaces 540 or other appropriate mechanisms. It is to be appreciated that the illustrated network connections are exemplary and that other means of establishing communication link(s) between the computers 502 and 548 can be employed.

[0049] In a networked environment, such as that illustrated with computing environment 500, program modules depicted relative to the computer 502, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. By way of example, remote application programs 558 reside on a memory device of remote computer 548. For purposes of illustration, application programs and other executable program components such as the operating system are illustrated herein as discrete blocks, although it is recognized that such programs and components reside at various times in different storage components of the computing device 502, and are executed by the data processor(s) of the computer.

[0050] Various modules and techniques may be described herein in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

[0051] An implementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise “computer storage media” and “communications media.”

[0052] “Computer storage media” includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.

[0053] “Communication media” typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communication media also includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0054] Although the description above uses language that is specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the invention.