IDENTIFICATION VERIFICATION MECHANISMS FOR A THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION TO ACCESS CONTENT IN A CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM

• US 20130318586A1
• Filed: 05/20/2013
• Published: 11/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, Michael, Smith, Benjamin Campbell, Tan, Simon, Yao, Rico
• Granted Patent: US 9,552,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for using a third-party application to access or edit a file within a cloud-based environment within a cloud-based platform or environment. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to a request to access the content in the cloud-based environment, providing the third-party application with a login view to verify an identity of a user. The login view is generated from a server hosting the environment. The method further includes, upon the verification of the user'"'"'s identity, providing the requested content to the third-party application.

Claims

1. A method for providing a third-party application with access to content in a cloud-based environment, the method comprising:

in response to a request to access the content in the cloud-based environment, providing the third-party application with a login view to verify an identity of a user, wherein the login view is generated from a server hosting the environment; and

upon the verification of the user'"'"'s identity, providing the requested content to the third-party application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing is performed based on whether the user is logged into the cloud-based environment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting an authentication token to the third-party application after the user'"'"'s identity is verified.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the login view is not generated again by the server if, upon receiving a subsequent request to access the cloud-based environment, the authentication token is present on the third-party application.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the content is encrypted, and wherein the authentication token includes a decryption key to decrypt the content.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the request includes a ticket that is to automatically expire after a period of time.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the provided login view is embedded in an interface of the third-party application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is transmitted from the third-party application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the third-party application has a user interface customized to enable storage of the accessed content back to the cloud-based environment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the third-party application is listed in a list of approved third-party applications.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

keeping a history of the access, the history including at least information regarding which third-party application accessed what content.

12. A method for a third-party application to access content in a cloud-based environment, the method comprising:

transmitting, using the third-party application, a request to access the content in the cloud-based environment to a server which hosts the environment;

receiving from the server a login view to verify an identity of a user based on whether the user is logged into the cloud-based environment, wherein the login view is embedded in an interface of the third-party application; and

receiving the requested content from the server.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving an authentication token from the server after the user'"'"'s identity is verified.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting presence of the authentication token;

wherein the login view is not received again from the server if the authentication token is present during a subsequent request to access the cloud-based environment.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the content is encrypted, and wherein the authentication token includes a decryption key to decrypt the content.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the request includes a ticket that is to automatically expire after a period of time.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the third-party application has a user interface customized to enable storage of the accessed content back to the cloud-based environment.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the third-party application can receive an instruction from the cloud-based environment to delete the received content.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the third-party application is restricted to store the received content back to the cloud-based environment.

20. A system for providing a third-party application to access to a file in a cloud-based environment, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory circuitry coupled to the processors and having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by at least one of the processors, causes the system to;

in response to a request to access the content in the cloud-based environment, provide the third-party application with a login view to verify an identity of a user based on whether the user is logged into the cloud-based environment, wherein the login view is generated from a server hosting the environment; and

upon the verification of the user'"'"'s identity, provide the requested content to the third-party application.

21. A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

transmit, using a third-party application, a request to access content in a cloud-based environment to a server which hosts the environment;

receive from the server a login view to verify an identity of a user if the user is not logged into the cloud-based environment, wherein the login view is embedded in an interface of the third-party application; and

receive the requested content from the server.

22. A method for a third-party application to access content in a cloud-based environment, the method comprising:

receiving the content from the cloud-based environment;

creating a key content based on an authentication token that is received, and further based on a timestamp;

encrypting the content using the key; and

providing the encrypted content, along with the key, to the third-party application.

23. A system for providing a third-party application to access to a file in a cloud-based environment, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory circuitry coupled to the processors and having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by at least one of the processors, causes the system to;

receive the file from the cloud-based environment;

create a key content based on an authentication token that is received, and further based on a timestamp;

encrypt the file using the key; and

provide the encrypted content, along with the key, to the third-party application.