US6161139A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Administrative roles that govern access to administrative functions
Assignee: Entrust Ltd
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Filing: 1999-02-12
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Granted: 2000-12-12
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Expires: 2019-02-12
Abstract
Abstract Described is a method that comprises storing information that defines administration roles, that associates a user with one or more of the administrative roles, and that associates each administration role with one or more administrative privileges. An administrative privilege authorizes at least one administrative function. When the user requests the execution of an administrative function, the requests is honored only when one of the user's administrative roles includes an administrative privilege that authorizes the requested administrative function. In addition, information is stored that associates each of a plurality of users with one or more administrative roles. At least two users administer the access control computer system from different locations, or from computers connected to two different local area networks. Information associating a user with one or more administrative roles may be stored in a cookie, which may be encrypted. The information stored in the cookie is used to determine whether an administrative function requested by a user may be executed on behalf of the user.
Inventors
- 👤 Teresa Win
- 👤 Emilio Belmonte
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 21:30
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L63/00; H04L63/06; H04L63/067; G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/60; G06F21/604; G06F21/62; G06F21/6218; H04L63/10; H04L63/105; H04L67/00; H04L67/2866; H04L67/30; H04L67/306
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of distributing administration functions of an access control computer system to multiple users of the system, comprising the computer implemented steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles includes one or more administrative privileges that authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the users of the access control computer; receiving from the user a request to execute one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the user is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of distributing administration functions of an access control computer system to multiple users of the system, comprising the computer implemented steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles includes one or more administrative privileges that authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the users of the access control computer; receiving from the user a request to execute one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the user is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of a plurality of users of the access control computer system; and administering the access control computer system using a different administrator account for each of the users.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with a plurality of users for the access control computer system, wherein each of the plurality of users administers the access control computer system at a different geographic location.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with a plurality of users for the access control computer system, wherein the plurality of users includes at least two users that administer the access control computer system from at least two computers that are connected to separate local area networks.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
70 words
The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: storing information that associates a first set of roles with a first administration role; receiving a request from a first user to associate a second user with a particular role of the first set of roles; and storing information associating the particular role with the second user only when the first user is associated with the first administration role.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method recited in claim 5, further comprising the steps of: storing information that specifies that the particular role is associated with an administrative privilege that authorizes access to computer resources associated with the particular role; and storing information associating the particular role with one or more computer resources.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method recited in claim 6, further comprising the steps of: receiving a request from said second user to access a particular computer resource; and granting access to the particular computer resource when said second user is associated with the particular role.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of storing information that defines one or more administrative roles includes storing information that specifies that a particular administration role is associated with an administrative privilege that authorizes resetting user passwords.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of storing information specifying the one or more administrative roles in a cookie at a workstation of the user; and retrieving and reading the cookie to determine whether the user is associated with the administrative role that authorizes the administrative function.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method recited in claim 9, further comprising the step of encrypting data in the cookie.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method recited in claim 9, further comprising the steps of: receiving the cookie; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when data in the cookie associates the user with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing said administrative function.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
146 words
A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for distributing administration functions of an access control computer system, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles includes one or more administrative privileges that authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one user of the access control computer; receiving from the user a request to execute one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the user is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing said administrative function.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
146 words
A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for distributing administration functions of an access control computer system, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles includes one or more administrative privileges that authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one user of the access control computer; receiving from the user a request to execute one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the user is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing said administrative function.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 12, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of a plurality of users of the access control computer system; and administering the access control computer system using a different administrator account for each of the users.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
57 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 12, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with a plurality of users for the access control computer system, wherein each of the plurality of users administers the access control computer system at a different geographic location.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
69 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 12, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the step of: storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with a plurality of users for the access control computer system, wherein the plurality of users includes at least two users that administer the access control computer system from at least two computers that are connected to separate local area networks.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
75 words
The computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising the sequences of instructions for performing steps of: storing information that associates a first set of roles with a first administration role; receiving a request from a first user to associate a second user with a particular role of the first set of roles; and storing information associating the particular role with the second user only when the first user is associated with the first administration role.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
55 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 16, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: storing information that specifies that the particular role is associated with an administrative privilege that authorizes access to computer resources associated with the particular role; and storing information associating the particular role with one or more computer resources.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
48 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 17, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the steps of: receiving a request from said second user to access a particular computer resource; and granting access to the particular computer resource when said second user is associated with the particular role.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
41 words
The computer-readable medium recited in claim 12, wherein the step of storing information that defines one or more administrative roles includes storing information that specifies that a particular administration role is associated with an administrative privilege that authorizes resetting user passwords.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
149 words
In a computer system that controls access by networked users of the system to one or more World Wide Web applications, a method of enabling multiple administrators at different locations to carry out administrative functions of the computer system, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles defines a successively more limited set of administrative privileges, in which each set of administrative privileges authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the administrators; receiving from one of the administrators a request to execute a particular one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the administrator is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
149 words
In a computer system that controls access by networked users of the system to one or more World Wide Web applications, a method of enabling multiple administrators at different locations to carry out administrative functions of the computer system, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of: storing information that defines one or more administrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles defines a successively more limited set of administrative privileges, in which each set of administrative privileges authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the administrators; receiving from one of the administrators a request to execute a particular one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the administrator is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
57 words
The computer-readable media recited in claim 12, further comprising sequences of instructions of performing the steps of storing information specifying the one or more adminstrative roles in a cookie at a workstation of the user; and retrieving and reading the cookie to determine whether the user is associated with the administrative role that authorizes the administrative function.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computer-readable media recited in claim 18, further comprising sequences of instructions for performing the step of encrypting data in the cookie.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
180 words
A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for enabling multiple administrators at different locations to carry out administrative functions for a computer system that controls access by networked users of the computer system to one or more World Wide Web applications, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: storing information that defines one or more adminstrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles defines a successively more limited set of administrative privileges, in which each set of administrative privileges authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the administrators; receiving from one of the administrators a request to execute a particular one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the administrator is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
180 words
A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for enabling multiple administrators at different locations to carry out administrative functions for a computer system that controls access by networked users of the computer system to one or more World Wide Web applications, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: storing information that defines one or more adminstrative roles, in which each of the administrative roles defines a successively more limited set of administrative privileges, in which each set of administrative privileges authorizes one or more administrative functions; storing information that associates one or more of the administrative roles with at least one of the administrators; receiving from one of the administrators a request to execute a particular one of the administrative functions; and executing the one of the administrative functions only when the administrator is associated with one of the administrative roles that includes an administrative privilege authorizing the administrative function.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-12-12 | 2004-06-12 | 2004-12-12 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-12-12 | 2008-06-12 | 2008-12-12 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-12-12 | 2012-06-12 | 2012-12-12 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |