Cisco Technology, Inc.

Peter Scott Davis

John Bazzinotti

Vincent E Parla

Valentiu Vlad Santau

Andrzej Kielbasinski

Kenneth John Wante

Timothy Steven Champagne

Victor Volpe

Rashmi Pitre

Keith Mader

Dany J Rochefort

Arturo Fagundo

Songling Han

Jiajun Lu

Andrew Rodwin

Techniques for dynamically establishing, pausing, and/or terminating secure communication sessions. The techniques may include, detecting an occurrence of an authentication trigger event on a computing device and causing a user of the computing device to be authenticated for access to a resource that is to be accessed via a secure communication session. Based at least in part on authenticating the user for access to the resource, a token may be stored in a location that is accessible to a headend appliance associated with the secure communication session. The token may indicate that the user of the computing device is authenticated for access to the resource. In this way, at least partially responsive to detecting an occurrence of a networking trigger event, the secure communication session may be established between the computing device and the headend appliance to provide the computing device with access to the resource.

Dynamic user authentication and traffic steering

Methods to securely remediate a captive portal are provided. In these methods, a processor of a user device detects a connection, via a network, to a captive portal. Based on the detected connection to the captive portal, the processor launches a dedicated secure web browser, and selectively restricts access of the user device to the network in order to only allow, via the dedicated secure web browser, communications related to remediation with the captive portal.

Secure captive portal remediation

A computing device dynamically excludes/includes traffic from/in a secure tunnel based on the domain name of the destination of the traffic. The computing device establishes a secure tunnel from the computing device, and receives a request to access a remote resource at a domain name. The computing device resolves the domain name at a domain name server and receives a resolved network address associated with the domain name. The computing device determines whether to send the request inside the secure tunnel or outside the secure tunnel by comparing the domain name to a split tunneling policy. Based on the comparison with the split tunneling policy, the computing device sends the request to the resolved network address either outside the secure tunnel or inside the secure tunnel.

Dynamic split tunneling

In one embodiment, a method includes initiating at a client application at a client device, a single sign-on authentication with a security device, receiving at the client application, a session identifier and location of a web portal for the single sign-on authentication from the security device, and passing the session identifier and location of the web portal from the client application to a browser installed at the client device, for use by the browser in performing the single sign-on authentication at the client device. An apparatus and logic are also disclosed herein.

Single sign-on authentication via browser for client application

A virtual private network device enables individual machines at a remote subnet to be visible and addressable from a central site by establishing a private address range for the remote machines, forming a virtual private network tunnel from the virtual private network device to the central site, and communicating the private address range to the central site to enable connections from the central site to individual machines on the remote subnet.

Method and apparatus providing virtual private network access

In a hardware client for remote logon to a network, a two layer authentication protocol enables authorized users to log on while discouraging unauthorized users. The hardware client prevents logging on to the network if the hardware client is stolen. The hardware client itself is authenticated in the first authentication layer in order to establish a link to the network. Then a client computer authenticates in a second layer and further establishes a secure connection to the network. If the power of the hardware client goes off (as it would if or example it were unplugged for transport), then the authentication is not saved and therefore is lost. The hardware client must be reauthenticated before it can be used again.

Methods and apparatus for user authentication and interactive unit authentication

In a virtual private network, a plurality of concentrators form an interface to provide client/remote site access to a private network over a public network. The plurality of concentrators are grouped into a virtual cluster. Each concentrator in the virtual cluster has an IP address and the virtual cluster has a virtual IP address. In operation, one of the plurality of concentrators assumes the virtual IP address and acts as the master device in the cluster. When a client attempts a connection to the private network, the client addresses an initial request to the virtual IP address. The master device responds to the client request by transmitting to the client the IP address of a concentrator in the cluster selected to handle the connection.

Method and apparatus for load balancing in a virtual private network

A client device establishes a virtual private network connection with a central site or network through a master concentrator. The master concentrator transmits state information, relating to the virtual private network connection, to a backup concentrator. In the event the master concentrator fails during a communications session between the client device and the network, the backup concentrator maintains the communication session between the client device and the network over the virtual private network connection using the connection state information received from the master concentrator. Such a configuration allows for failover of a virtual private network connection from the master concentrator to the backup concentrator without requiring the client device to re-establish the virtual private network connection with the central site or network. The configuration also allows the client device to maintain an existing communications session with the network.

Growing community of inventors

Wakefield, MA, United States of America

Peter Scott Davis