Abstract: A secure data broker has been developed, which provides a restricted message based data exchange between a client application and a secured information resource by allowing registered or verified messages to be brokered across a security barrier. In some configurations, both requests and responses are validated and brokered across the security barrier. In other configuration, either requests or responses are validated. To support validation, messages are formatted in accordance with a predefined message specification for at least part of a transaction path between a client application and an information resource accessed by the client application.

Abstract: By including environment information in a security policy, a security architecture advantageously allows temporal, locational, connection type and/or client capabilities-related information to affect the sufficiency of a given credential type (and associated authentication scheme) for access to a particular information resource. In some configurations, time of access, originating location (physical or network) and/or connection type form a risk profile that can be factored into credential type sufficiency. In some configurations, changing environmental parameters may cause a previously sufficient credential to become insufficient. Alternatively, an authenticated credential previously insufficient for access at a given trust level may be sufficient based on a changed or more fully parameterized session environment. In some configurations, the use of session tracking facilites (e.g., the information content of session tokens) can be tailored to environmental parameters (e.g., connection type or location).