U.S. patent application number 17/076254 was filed with the patent office on 2021-02-04 for systems and methods for consistent enforcement policy across different saas applications via embedded browser.
This patent application is currently assigned to Citrix Systems, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Citrix Systems, Inc.. Invention is credited to Christopher Fleck, Jeroen Mattijs van Rotterdam.
Application Number | 20210037101 17/076254 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005164359 |
Filed Date | 2021-02-04 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210037101 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fleck; Christopher ; et
al. |
February 4, 2021 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONSISTENT ENFORCEMENT POLICY ACROSS
DIFFERENT SAAS APPLICATIONS VIA EMBEDDED BROWSER
Abstract
Embodiments described include systems and methods for managing
sessions to one or more network applications accessed via a client
application including an embedded browser. The client application
establishes sessions to one or more network applications. The
client application identifies a session timeout policy for managing
the sessions of the client application. The session timeout policy
specifies a time period for which a session is determined to be
inactive. The client application monitors activity in the embedded
browser for each of the sessions. The client application detects
that inactivity of a first session of the sessions has reached the
time period of the session timeout policy. The client application
detects the inactivity responsive to the monitoring. The client
application terminates each of the sessions via the embedded
browser responsive to the detection.
Inventors: |
Fleck; Christopher; (Fort
Lauderdale, FL) ; van Rotterdam; Jeroen Mattijs;
(Fort Lauderdale, FL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Citrix Systems, Inc. |
Fort Lauderdale |
FL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Citrix Systems, Inc.
Fort Lauderdale
FL
|
Family ID: |
1000005164359 |
Appl. No.: |
17/076254 |
Filed: |
October 21, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16139800 |
Sep 24, 2018 |
10848571 |
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17076254 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/24 20130101;
H04L 67/143 20130101; H04L 67/22 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: identifying, by a client device, a time
period for a session which is inactive, the session being one of a
plurality of sessions which are hosted by different network
applications and accessible by the client device; detecting, by the
client device, that inactivity of the session has reached a time
out value of the session; and terminating, by the client device
responsive to detection of the inactivity of the session reached
the time out value, the plurality of sessions.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing, by a
client application executable by one or more processors of the
client device, the plurality of sessions via an embedded browser of
the client application.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring, by the
client device, inactivity for the plurality of sessions the time
periods of the plurality of sessions.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising monitoring, by the
client device, keyboard activity for at least one of the plurality
of sessions.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the
client device, to terminate at least one other session based at
least on the time period for the session being reached.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the different network
applications comprise an application hosted on one or more servers
accessed by the client device via a network.
7. A method comprising: identifying, by a client device, a time
period to be used for a plurality of sessions established by the
client device with one or more network applications, the plurality
of sessions having a corresponding session timeout, and at least
one of the plurality of sessions having a session timeout being
less than the time period; determining, by the client device, that
the time period for any of the plurality of sessions has not been
reached; and simulating, by the client device responsive to the
determination that the time period for any of the plurality of
sessions has not been reached, activity in a session of the
plurality of sessions to prevent inactivity of the session from
reaching the session timeout of that session.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining, by the
client device, that at least another session of the plurality of
sessions is active while the session is idle.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining, by the
client device, that inactivity in at one of the plurality of
sessions has reached the time period and terminating all of the
plurality of sessions.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising monitoring, by the
client device, keyboard inactivity in at least one session of the
plurality of sessions based at least on the corresponding session
timeout for each session.
11. The method of claim 7, further comprising monitoring, by the
client device, keyboard inactivity in at least one session of the
plurality of sessions based at least on the timeout period for the
plurality of sessions.
12. The method of claim 7, further comprising executing for at
least one session of the plurality of sessions that is inactive one
or more activity simulators in response to any other one of the
plurality of sessions has activity.
13. A device comprising: one or more processors, coupled to memory
and having a plurality of sessions which are hosted by different
network applications and accessible by the device, the one or more
processors configured to: identify a time out value for a session
of the plurality sessions which is inactive, identify a time period
to be used for the plurality of sessions for which if any of the
plurality of sessions is determined to be inactive the plurality of
sessions are terminated; determine that the time period for any of
the plurality of sessions has not been reached; and simulate
responsive to determining that the time period for any of the
plurality of sessions has not been reached, activity in the session
to prevent inactivity of the session from reaching the time out
value of that session.
14. The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to determine that at least another session of
the plurality of sessions is active while the session is idle.
15. The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to determine that inactivity in each of the
plurality of sessions has reached the time period and terminating
the plurality of sessions.
16. The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to monitor keyboard inactivity for the session
based at least on the time out value.
17. The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to monitor inactivity for at least one of the
plurality of sessions based at least on the time period for the
plurality of sessions.
18. The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to execute for at least one session of the
plurality of sessions that is inactive one or more activity
simulators if any other one of the plurality of sessions is
active.
19. The device of claim 13, wherein the time out value of the
session is less than the time period.
20. The device of claim 13, wherein the different network
applications comprise an application hosted on one or more servers
accessed by the device via a network.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This patent application is a continuation of, and claims
priority to and the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
16/139,800, titled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONSISTENT ENFORCEMENT
POLICY ACROSS DIFFERENT SAAS APPLICATIONS VIA EMBEDDED BROWSER,"
and filed Sep. 24, 2018, the contents of all of which are hereby
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all
purposes.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present application generally relates to management of
applications, including but not limited to systems and methods for
using an embedded browser to manage and monitor web and
software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.
BACKGROUND
[0003] As the workforce of an enterprise becomes more mobile and
work under various conditions, an individual can use one or more
client devices, including personal devices, to access network
resources such as web applications. Due to differences between the
client devices and the manner in which network resources can be
accessed, there are significant challenges to the enterprise in
managing access to network resources and monitoring for potential
misuse of resources.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0004] The present disclosure is directed towards systems and
methods for applying a consistent enforcement policy across
different software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications via an embedded
browser. A client application executing on a client device can
allow a user to access applications (apps) that are served from
and/or hosted on one or more servers, such as web applications
and
[0005] SaaS applications (hereafter sometimes generally referred to
as network applications). A browser that is embedded or integrated
with the client application can render to the user a network
application that is accessed or requested via the client
application, and can enable interactivity between the user and the
network application. The browser is sometimes referred to as an
embedded browser, and the client application with embedded browser
(CEB) is sometimes referred to as a workspace application. The
client application can establish a secure connection to the one or
more servers to provide an application session for the user to
access the network application using the client device and the
embedded browser. The embedded browser can be integrated with the
client application to ensure that traffic related to the network
application is routed through and/or processed in the client
application, which can provide the client application with
real-time visibility to the traffic (e.g., when decrypted through
the client application), and user interactions and behavior. The
embedded browser can provide a seamless experience to a user as the
network application is requested via the user interface (shared by
the client application and the embedded browser) and rendered
through the embedded browser within the same user interface. By
using the embedded browser, the present disclosure can apply a
consistent enforcement policy across different SaaS apps accessed
via the client device executing the with embedded browser. For
example, SaaS apps or services can have a variety of session
timeout policies, or no timeout policy. The present disclosure can
set, configure, provide or otherwise apply a single policy, or a
per app policy that applies to all web or SaaS apps launched from
the CEB.
[0006] The client application can monitor keyboard activity during
usage of each CEB session. When the time limit set by the
administrator is reached, the client application can execute a
command to kill the CEB app for all CEB sessions. Further, the
systems and methods of the present disclosure can allow a policy to
keep sessions launched in the CEB to be kept alive as long as there
is any activity in any of the CEB sessions. The activity monitor
for each CEB session can report actual keyboard activity to the
primary CEB app. Each CEB session can include a process to simulate
keyboard activity. The simulated keyboard activity can include, for
example, a blank space and enter then backspace or other keyboard
activity that reports activity to the SaaS system but does not
alter the desired user input into the CEB app or CEB session. The
client application can execute the keyboard simulation in each idle
CEB session when there is actual keyboard activity in any CEB
session. However, when there is no actual keyboard activity in any
session, the keyboard simulation will not be run. Thus, the client
application can facilitate timing out all sessions according to the
policy set by the CEB administrator.
[0007] In one aspect, this disclosure is directed to a method for
managing sessions to one or more network applications accessed via
a client application including an embedded browser. The client
application can be on a client device. The client application can
establish sessions to one or more network applications. Each of the
sessions can be accessed via an embedded browser of the client
application. The client application can identify a session timeout
policy for managing the sessions of the client application. The
session timeout policy specifies a time period for which a session
is determined to be inactive. The client application can monitor
activity in the embedded browser for each of the session. The
client application can detect that inactivity of a first session of
the sessions has reached the time period of the session timeout
policy. The client application can detect the inactivity responsive
to the monitoring. The client application can terminate each of the
sessions via the embedded browser responsive to the detection.
[0008] In some embodiments, the embedded browser can be integrated
into the client application. In some embodiments, the one or more
network applications can include an application hosted on a server
accessed by the client device via a network.
[0009] In some embodiments, the client application can establish
one or more activity monitors for monitoring each session of the
plurality of sessions. In some embodiments, the one or more
activity monitors can monitor keyboard activity in each of the
sessions.
[0010] In some embodiments, the client application can establish
one or more activity simulators for simulating activity in each of
the sessions. In some embodiments, the client application can
execute the one or more activity simulators for each idle session
of the sessions if any one of the sessions has activity. In some
embodiments, the client application cannot execute the one or more
activity simulators for any of the sessions if all of the plurality
of sessions are idle.
[0011] In some embodiments, the client application can execute a
command to terminate the client application.
[0012] In another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a system
for managing sessions to one or more network applications accessed
via a client application including an embedded browser. The system
can include a client application executable on one or more
processors of a client device. The client application can include
an embedded browser. The system can include one or more activity
monitors. The client application can include the one or more
activity monitors. The client application can establish sessions to
one or more network applications accessed via the embedded browser.
The client application can identify a session timeout policy for
managing the sessions of the client application. The session
timeout policy can specify a time period for which a session is
determined to be inactive. The one or more activity monitors can
monitor activity in the embedded browser for each of the sessions.
The one or more activity monitors can detect that inactivity of a
first session of the plurality of session has reached the time
period of the session timeout policy. The client application can
terminate each of the plurality of sessions accessed via the
embedded browser responsive to the detection.
[0013] In some embodiments, the embedded browser can be integrated
with the client application. In some embodiments, the one or more
network applications can include an application hosted on a server
accessed by the client device via a network.
[0014] In some embodiments, the one or more activity monitors can
be configured to monitor keyboard activity of the sessions. In some
embodiments, the client application can be configured to execute a
command to terminate one of the client application, the embedded
browser or each of the sessions.
[0015] In another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a system
for keeping active sessions to one or more networked applications
accessed via a client application including an embedded browser.
The system can include a client application executable on one or
more processors of a client device. The client application can
include an embedded browser. The system can include one or more
activity monitors. The system can include one or more activity
simulators. The client application can establish sessions to one or
more network applications accessed via the embedded browser. The
client application can identify a session timeout policy for
managing the sessions of the client application. The session
timeout policy can specify a time period for which a session is
determined to be inactive. The one or more activity monitors can
monitor activity in the embedded browser for each of the sessions.
The one or more activity simulators can simulate activity in one or
more of the sessions responsive to the one more activity monitors
detecting that the one or more sessions are idle and that the time
period of the session timeout policy has not been reached for any
of the plurality of sessions.
[0016] In some embodiments, the embedded browser can be integrated
with the client application. In some embodiments, the one or more
network applications include an application hosted on a server
accessed by the client device via a network.
[0017] In some embodiments, the one or more activity monitors can
monitor keyboard activity of the sessions. In some embodiments, an
activity simulator of the one or more activity simulators can
execute for each idle session of the sessions if the one or more
activity monitors has detected that any one of the sessions has
activity.
[0018] In some embodiment, the client application can be configured
not to execute the one or more activity simulators responsive to
the one or more activity monitors detecting that all of the
plurality of sessions are idle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0019] The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and
advantages of the present solution will become more apparent and
better understood by referring to the following description taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of embodiments of a computing
device;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of
cloud services for use in accessing resources;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an
enterprise mobility management system;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 of an embedded
browser;
[0024] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a
system for using a secure browser;
[0025] FIG. 6 is an example representation of an implementation for
browser redirection using a secure browser plug-in;
[0026] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of example embodiment of a system
of using a secure browser;
[0027] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a
system for using local embedded browser(s) and hosted secured
browser(s);
[0028] FIG. 9 is an example process flow for using local embedded
browser(s) and hosted secured browser(s);
[0029] FIG. 10 is an example embodiment of a system for managing
user access to webpages;
[0030] FIG. 11 is an example embodiment of a system for managing
sessions to one or more network applications; and
[0031] FIG. 12 is an example embodiment of a method for managing
sessions to one or more network applications.
[0032] The features and advantages of the present solution will
become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below
when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like
reference characters identify corresponding elements throughout. In
the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical,
functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0033] For purposes of reading the description of the various
embodiments below, the following descriptions of the sections of
the specification and their respective contents can be helpful:
[0034] Section A describes a computing environment which can be
useful for practicing embodiments described herein.
[0035] Section B describes systems and methods for an embedded
browser.
[0036] Section C describes systems and methods for managing
sessions to network applications accessed via a client application
including an embedded browser.
A. Computing Environment
[0037] Prior to discussing the specifics of embodiments of the
systems and methods detailed herein in Sections B and C, it can be
helpful to discuss the computing environments in which such
embodiments can be deployed.
[0038] As shown in FIG. 1, computer 101 can include one or more
processors 103, volatile memory 122 (e.g., random access memory
(RAM)), non-volatile memory 128 (e.g., one or more hard disk drives
(HDDs) or other magnetic or optical storage media, one or more
solid state drives (SSDs) such as a flash drive or other solid
state storage media, one or more hybrid magnetic and solid state
drives, and/or one or more virtual storage volumes, such as a cloud
storage, or a combination of such physical storage volumes and
virtual storage volumes or arrays thereof), user interface (UI)
123, one or more communications interfaces 118, and communication
bus 150. User interface 123 can include graphical user interface
(GUI) 124 (e.g., a touchscreen, a display, etc.) and one or more
input/output (I/O) devices 126 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, a
microphone, one or more speakers, one or more cameras, one or more
biometric scanners, one or more environmental sensors, one or more
accelerometers, etc.). Non-volatile memory 128 stores operating
system 115, one or more applications 116, and data 117 such that,
for example, computer instructions of operating system 115 and/or
applications 116 are executed by processor(s) 103 out of volatile
memory 122. In some embodiments, volatile memory 122 can include
one or more types of RAM and/or a cache memory that can offer a
faster response time than a main memory. Data can be entered using
an input device of GUI 124 or received from I/O device(s) 126.
Various elements of computer 101 can communicate via one or more
communication buses, shown as communication bus 150.
[0039] Computer 101 as shown in FIG. 1 is shown merely as an
example, as clients, servers, intermediary and other networking
devices and can be implemented by any computing or processing
environment and with any type of machine or set of machines that
can have suitable hardware and/or software capable of operating as
described herein. Processor(s) 103 can be implemented by one or
more programmable processors to execute one or more executable
instructions, such as a computer program, to perform the functions
of the system. As used herein, the term "processor" describes
circuitry that performs a function, an operation, or a sequence of
operations. The function, operation, or sequence of operations can
be hard coded into the circuitry or soft coded by way of
instructions held in a memory device and executed by the circuitry.
A "processor" can perform the function, operation, or sequence of
operations using digital values and/or using analog signals. In
some embodiments, the "processor" can be embodied in one or more
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), microprocessors,
digital signal processors (DSPs), graphics processing units (GPUs),
microcontrollers, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
programmable logic arrays (PLAs), multi-core processors, or
general-purpose computers with associated memory. The "processor"
can be analog, digital or mixed-signal. In some embodiments, the
"processor" can be one or more physical processors or one or more
"virtual" (e.g., remotely located or "cloud") processors. A
processor including multiple processor cores and/or multiple
processors multiple processors can provide functionality for
parallel, simultaneous execution of instructions or for parallel,
simultaneous execution of one instruction on more than one piece of
data.
[0040] Communications interfaces 118 can include one or more
interfaces to enable computer 101 to access a computer network such
as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a
Personal Area Network (PAN), or the Internet through a variety of
wired and/or wireless or cellular connections.
[0041] In described embodiments, the computing device 101 can
execute an application on behalf of a user of a client computing
device. For example, the computing device 101 can execute a virtual
machine, which provides an execution session within which
applications execute on behalf of a user or a client computing
device, such as a hosted desktop session. The computing device 101
can also execute a terminal services session to provide a hosted
desktop environment. The computing device 101 can provide access to
a computing environment including one or more of: one or more
applications, one or more desktop applications, and one or more
desktop sessions in which one or more applications can execute.
[0042] Additional details of the implementation and operation of
network environment, computer 101 and client and server computers
can be as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,538,345, issued Jan. 3, 2017
to Citrix Systems, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the teachings of
which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
B. Systems and Methods for an Embedded Browser
[0043] The present disclosure is directed towards systems and
methods of an embedded browser. A client application executing on a
client device can allow a user to access applications (apps) that
are served from and/or hosted on one or more servers, such as web
applications and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications
(hereafter sometimes generally referred to as network
applications). A browser that is embedded or integrated with the
client application can render to the user a network application
that is accessed or requested via the client application, and can
enable interactivity between the user and the network application.
The browser is sometimes referred to as an embedded browser, and
the client application with embedded browser (CEB) is sometimes
referred to as a workspace application. The client application can
establish a secure connection to the one or more servers to provide
an application session for the user to access the network
application using the client device and the embedded browser. The
embedded browser can be integrated with the client application to
ensure that traffic related to the network application is routed
through and/or processed in the client application, which can
provide the client application with real-time visibility to the
traffic (e.g., when decrypted through the client application), and
user interactions and behavior. The embedded browser can provide a
seamless experience to a user as the network application is
requested via the user interface (shared by the client application
and the embedded browser) and rendered through the embedded browser
within the same user interface.
[0044] The client application can terminate one end of a secured
connection established with a server of a network application, such
as a secure sockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN)
connection. The client application can receive encrypted traffic
from the network application, and can decrypt the traffic before
further processing (e.g., rendering by the embedded browser). The
client application can monitor the received traffic (e.g., in
encrypted packet form), and also have full visibility into the
decrypted data stream and/or the SSL stack. This visibility can
allow the client application to perform or facilitate policy-based
management (e.g., including data loss prevention (DLP)
capabilities), application control (e.g., to improve performance,
service level), and collection and production of analytics. For
instance, the local CEB can provide an information technology (IT)
administrator with a controlled system for deploying web and SaaS
applications through the CEB, and allow the IT administrator to set
policies or configurations via the CEB for performing any of the
forgoing activities.
[0045] Many web and SaaS delivered applications connect from web
servers to generic browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, and
so on) of users. Once authenticated, the entire session of such a
network application is encrypted. However, in this scenario, an
administrator may not have visibility, analytics, or control of the
content entering the network application from the user's digital
workspace, or the content leaving the network application and
entering the user's digital workspace. Moreover, content of a
network application viewed in a generic browser can be copied or
downloaded (e.g., by a user or program) to potentially any
arbitrary application or device, resulting in a possible breach in
data security.
[0046] This present systems and methods can ensure that traffic
associated with a network application is channeled through a CEB.
By way of illustration, when a user accesses a SaaS web service
with security assertion markup language (SAML) enabled for
instance, the corresponding access request can be forwarded to a
designated gateway service that determines, checks or verifies if
the CEB was used to make the access request. Responsive to
determining that a CEB was used to make the access request, the
gateway service can perform or provide authentication and
single-sign-on (SSO), and can allow the CEB to connect directly to
the SaaS web service. Encryption (e.g., standard encryption) can be
used for the application session between the CEB and the SaaS web
service. When the content from the web service is unencrypted in
the CEB to the viewed via the embedded browser, and/or when input
is entered via the CEB, the CEB can provide added services on
selective application-related information for control and analytics
for instance. For example, an analytics agent or application
programming interface (API) can be embedded in the CEB to provide
or perform the added services.
[0047] The CEB (sometimes referred to as workspace application or
receiver) can interoperate with one or more gateway services,
intermediaries and/or network servers (sometimes collectively
referred to as cloud services or Citrix Cloud) to provide access to
a network application. Features and elements of an environment
related to the operation of an embodiment of cloud services are
described below.
[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of cloud services for use
in accessing resources including network applications. The cloud
services can include an enterprise mobility technical architecture
200, which can include an access gateway 260 in one illustrative
embodiment. The architecture can be used in a bring-your-own-device
(BYOD) environment for instance. The architecture can enable a user
of a client device 204 (e.g., a mobile or other device) to both
access enterprise or personal resources from a client device 202,
and use the client device 204 for personal use. The user can access
such enterprise resources 204 or enterprise services 208 via a
client application executing on the client device 204. The user can
access such enterprise resources 204 or enterprise services 208
using a client device 204 that is purchased by the user or a client
device 202 that is provided by the enterprise to user. The user can
utilize the client device 202 for business use only or for business
and personal use. The client device can run an iOS operating
system, and Android operating system, or the like. The enterprise
can choose to implement policies to manage the client device 204.
The policies can be implanted through a firewall or gateway in such
a way that the client device can be identified, secured or security
verified, and provided selective or full access to the enterprise
resources. The policies can be client device management policies,
mobile application management policies, mobile data management
policies, or some combination of client device, application, and
data management policies. A client device 204 that is managed
through the application of client device management policies can be
referred to as an enrolled device. The client device management
policies can be applied via the client application for
instance.
[0049] In some embodiments, the operating system of the client
device can be separated into a managed partition 210 and an
unmanaged partition 212. The managed partition 210 can have
policies applied to it to secure the applications running on and
data stored in the managed partition. The applications running on
the managed partition can be secure applications. In other
embodiments, all applications can execute a set of one or more
policy files received separate from the application, and which
define one or more security parameters, features, resource
restrictions, and/or other access controls that are enforced by the
client device management system when that application is executing
on the device. By operating using their respective policy file(s),
each application can be allowed or restricted from communications
with one or more other applications and/or resources, thereby
creating a virtual partition. Thus, as used herein, a partition can
refer to a physically partitioned portion of memory (physical
partition), a logically partitioned portion of memory (logical
partition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result of
enforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across
multiple apps as described herein (virtual partition). Stated
differently, by enforcing policies on managed apps, those apps can
be restricted to only be able to communicate with other managed
apps and trusted enterprise resources, thereby creating a virtual
partition that is not accessible by unmanaged apps and devices.
[0050] The secure applications can be email applications, web
browsing applications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access
applications, Windows Application access applications, and the
like. The client application can include a secure application
launcher 218. The secure applications can be secure native
applications 214, secure remote applications 222 executed by the
secure application launcher 218, virtualization applications 226
executed by the secure application launcher 218, and the like. The
secure native applications 214 can be wrapped by a secure
application wrapper 220. The secure application wrapper 220 can
include integrated policies that are executed on the client device
202 when the secure native application is executed on the device.
The secure application wrapper 220 can include meta-data that
points the secure native application 214 running on the client
device 202 to the resources hosted at the enterprise that the
secure native application 214 can require to complete the task
requested upon execution of the secure native application 214. The
secure remote applications 222 executed by a secure application
launcher 218 can be executed within the secure application launcher
application 218. The virtualization applications 226 executed by a
secure application launcher 218 can utilize resources on the client
device 202, at the enterprise resources 204, and the like. The
resources used on the client device 202 by the virtualization
applications 226 executed by a secure application launcher 218 can
include user interaction resources, processing resources, and the
like. The user interaction resources can be used to collect and
transmit keyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input,
audio input, visual input, gesture input, and the like. The
processing resources can be used to present a user interface,
process data received from the enterprise resources 204, and the
like. The resources used at the enterprise resources 204 by the
virtualization applications 226 executed by a secure application
launcher 218 can include user interface generation resources,
processing resources, and the like. The user interface generation
resources can be used to assemble a user interface, modify a user
interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. The processing
resources can be used to create information, read information,
update information, delete information, and the like. For example,
the virtualization application can record user interactions
associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) and communicate
them to a server application where the server application can use
the user interaction data as an input to the application operating
on the server. In this arrangement, an enterprise can elect to
maintain the application on the server side as well as data, files,
etc., associated with the application. While an enterprise can
elect to "mobilize" some applications using the principles herein
by securing them for deployment on the client device (e.g., via the
client application), this arrangement can also be elected for
certain applications. For example, while some applications can be
secured for use on the client device, others might not be prepared
or appropriate for deployment on the client device so the
enterprise can elect to provide the mobile user access to the
unprepared applications through virtualization techniques. As
another example, the enterprise can have large complex applications
with large and complex data sets (e.g., material resource planning
applications) where it would be very difficult, or otherwise
undesirable, to customize the application for the client device so
the enterprise can elect to provide access to the application
through virtualization techniques. As yet another example, the
enterprise can have an application that maintains highly secured
data (e.g., human resources data, customer data, engineering data)
that can be deemed by the enterprise as too sensitive for even the
secured mobile environment so the enterprise can elect to use
virtualization techniques to permit mobile access to such
applications and data. An enterprise can elect to provide both
fully secured and fully functional applications on the client
device. The enterprise can use a client application, which can
include a virtualization application, to allow access to
applications that are deemed more properly operated on the server
side. In an embodiment, the virtualization application can store
some data, files, etc., on the mobile phone in one of the secure
storage locations. An enterprise, for example, can elect to allow
certain information to be stored on the phone while not permitting
other information.
[0051] In connection with the virtualization application, as
described herein, the client device can have a virtualization
application that is designed to present GUIs and then record user
interactions with the GUI. The virtualization application can
communicate the user interactions to the server side to be used by
the server side application as user interactions with the
application. In response, the application on the server side can
transmit back to the client device a new GUI. For example, the new
GUI can be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation, or the
like, thereby providing access to remotely located resources.
[0052] The secure applications can access data stored in a secure
data container 228 in the managed partition 210 of the client
device. The data secured in the secure data container can be
accessed by the secure wrapped applications 214, applications
executed by a secure application launcher 222, virtualization
applications 226 executed by a secure application launcher 218, and
the like. The data stored in the secure data container 228 can
include files, databases, and the like. The data stored in the
secure data container 228 can include data restricted to a specific
secure application 230, shared among secure applications 232, and
the like. Data restricted to a secure application can include
secure general data 234 and highly secure data 238. Secure general
data can use a strong form of encryption such as Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption or the like, while
highly secure data 238 can use a very strong form of encryption
such as AES 256-bit encryption. Data stored in the secure data
container 228 can be deleted from the device upon receipt of a
command from the device manager 224. The secure applications can
have a dual-mode option 240. The dual mode option 240 can present
the user with an option to operate the secured application in an
unsecured or unmanaged mode. In an unsecured or unmanaged mode, the
secure applications can access data stored in an unsecured data
container 242 on the unmanaged partition 212 of the client device
202. The data stored in an unsecured data container can be personal
data 244. The data stored in an unsecured data container 242 can
also be accessed by unsecured applications 248 that are running on
the unmanaged partition 212 of the client device 202. The data
stored in an unsecured data container 242 can remain on the client
device 202 when the data stored in the secure data container 228 is
deleted from the client device 202. An enterprise can want to
delete from the client device selected or all data, files, and/or
applications owned, licensed or controlled by the enterprise
(enterprise data) while leaving or otherwise preserving personal
data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed or controlled by
the user (personal data). This operation can be referred to as a
selective wipe. With the enterprise and personal data arranged as
described herein, an enterprise can perform a selective wipe.
[0053] The client device 202 can connect to enterprise resources
204 and enterprise services 208 at an enterprise, to the public
Internet 248, and the like. The client device can connect to
enterprise resources 204 and enterprise services 208 through
virtual private network connections. The virtual private network
connections, also referred to as microVPN or application-specific
VPN, can be specific to particular applications (e.g., as
illustrated by microVPNs 250), particular devices, particular
secured areas on the client device (e.g., as illustrated by O/S VPN
252), and the like. For example, each of the wrapped applications
in the secured area of the phone can access enterprise resources
through an application specific VPN such that access to the VPN
would be granted based on attributes associated with the
application, possibly in conjunction with user or device attribute
information. The virtual private network connections can carry
Microsoft Exchange traffic, Microsoft Active Directory traffic,
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) traffic, HyperText Transfer
Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, application management traffic,
and the like. The virtual private network connections can support
and enable single-sign-on authentication processes 254. The
single-sign-on processes can allow a user to provide a single set
of authentication credentials, which are then verified by an
authentication service 258. The authentication service 258 can then
grant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 204,
without requiring the user to provide authentication credentials to
each individual enterprise resource 204.
[0054] The virtual private network connections can be established
and managed by an access gateway 260. The access gateway 260 can
include performance enhancement features that manage, accelerate,
and improve the delivery of enterprise resources 204 to the client
device 202. The access gateway can also re-route traffic from the
client device 202 to the public Internet 248, enabling the client
device 202 to access publicly available and unsecured applications
that run on the public Internet 248. The client device can connect
to the access gateway via a transport network 262. The transport
network 262 can use one or more transport protocols and can be a
wired network, wireless network, cloud network, local area network,
metropolitan area network, wide area network, public network,
private network, and the like.
[0055] The enterprise resources 204 can include email servers, file
sharing servers, SaaS/Web applications, Web application servers,
Windows application servers, and the like. Email servers can
include Exchange servers, Lotus Notes servers, and the like. File
sharing servers can include ShareFile servers, and the like. SaaS
applications can include Salesforce, and the like. Windows
application servers can include any application server that is
built to provide applications that are intended to run on a local
Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources
204 can be premise-based resources, cloud based resources, and the
like. The enterprise resources 204 can be accessed by the client
device 202 directly or through the access gateway 260. The
enterprise resources 204 can be accessed by the client device 202
via a transport network 262. The transport network 262 can be a
wired network, wireless network, cloud network, local area network,
metropolitan area network, wide area network, public network,
private network, and the like.
[0056] Cloud services can include an access gateway 260 and/or
enterprise services 208. The enterprise services 208 can include
authentication services 258, threat detection services 264, device
manager services 224, file sharing services 268, policy manager
services 270, social integration services 272, application
controller services 274, and the like. Authentication services 258
can include user authentication services, device authentication
services, application authentication services, data authentication
services and the like. Authentication services 258 can use
certificates. The certificates can be stored on the client device
202, by the enterprise resources 204, and the like. The
certificates stored on the client device 202 can be stored in an
encrypted location on the client device, the certificate can be
temporarily stored on the client device 202 for use at the time of
authentication, and the like. Threat detection services 264 can
include intrusion detection services, unauthorized access attempt
detection services, and the like. Unauthorized access attempt
detection services can include unauthorized attempts to access
devices, applications, data, and the like. Device management
services 224 can include configuration, provisioning, security,
support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services. File
sharing services 268 can include file management services, file
storage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policy
manager services 270 can include device policy manager services,
application policy manager services, data policy manager services,
and the like. Social integration services 272 can include contact
integration services, collaboration services, integration with
social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the
like. Application controller services 274 can include management
services, provisioning services, deployment services, assignment
services, revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.
[0057] The enterprise mobility technical architecture 200 can
include an application store 278. The application store 278 can
include unwrapped applications 280, pre-wrapped applications 282,
and the like. Applications can be populated in the application
store 278 from the application controller 274. The application
store 278 can be accessed by the client device 202 through the
access gateway 260, through the public Internet 248, or the like.
The application store can be provided with an intuitive and easy to
use User Interface.
[0058] A software development kit 284 can provide a user the
capability to secure applications selected by the user by providing
a secure wrapper around the application. An application that has
been wrapped using the software development kit 284 can then be
made available to the client device 202 by populating it in the
application store 278 using the application controller 274.
[0059] The enterprise mobility technical architecture 200 can
include a management and analytics capability. The management and
analytics capability can provide information related to how
resources are used, how often resources are used, and the like.
Resources can include devices, applications, data, and the like.
How resources are used can include which devices download which
applications, which applications access which data, and the like.
How often resources are used can include how often an application
has been downloaded, how many times a specific set of data has been
accessed by an application, and the like.
[0060] FIG. 3 depicts is an illustrative embodiment of an
enterprise mobility management system 300. Some of the components
of the mobility management system 200 described above with
reference to FIG. 2 have been omitted for the sake of simplicity.
The architecture of the system 300 depicted in FIG. 3 is similar in
many respects to the architecture of the system 200 described above
with reference to FIG. 2 and can include additional features not
mentioned above.
[0061] In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled
client device 302 with a client agent 304, which interacts with
gateway server 306 to access various enterprise resources 308 and
services 309 such as Web or SasS applications, Exchange,
Sharepoint, public-key infrastructure (PKI) Resources, Kerberos
Resources, Certificate Issuance service, as shown on the right hand
side above. The gateway server 306 can include embodiments of
features and functionalities of the cloud services, such as access
gateway 260 and application controller functionality. Although not
specifically shown, the client agent 304 can be part of, and/or
interact with the client application which can operate as an
enterprise application store (storefront) for the selection and/or
downloading of network applications.
[0062] The client agent 304 can act as a UI (user interface)
intermediary for Windows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data
center, which are accessed using the High-Definition User
Experience (HDX) or Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)
display remoting protocol. The client agent 304 can also support
the installation and management of native applications on the
client device 302, such as native iOS or Android applications. For
example, the managed applications 310 (mail, browser, wrapped
application) shown in the figure above are native applications that
execute locally on the device. Client agent 304 and application
management framework of this architecture act to provide policy
driven management capabilities and features such as connectivity
and SSO (single sign on) to enterprise resources/services 308. The
client agent 304 handles primary user authentication to the
enterprise, for instance to access gateway (AG) with SSO to other
gateway server components. The client agent 304 obtains policies
from gateway server 306 to control the behavior of the managed
applications 310 on the client device 302.
[0063] The Secure interprocess communication (IPC) links 312
between the native applications 310 and client agent 304 represent
a management channel, which allows client agent to supply policies
to be enforced by the application management framework 314
"wrapping" each application. The IPC channel 312 also allows client
agent 304 to supply credential and authentication information that
enables connectivity and SSO to enterprise resources 308. Finally
the IPC channel 312 allows the application management framework 314
to invoke user interface functions implemented by client agent 304,
such as online and offline authentication.
[0064] Communications between the client agent 304 and gateway
server 306 are essentially an extension of the management channel
from the application management framework 314 wrapping each native
managed application 310. The application management framework 314
requests policy information from client agent 304, which in turn
requests it from gateway server 306. The application management
framework 314 requests authentication, and client agent 304 logs
into the gateway services part of gateway server 306 (also known as
NetScaler access gateway). Client agent 304 can also call
supporting services on gateway server 306, which can produce input
material to derive encryption keys for the local data vaults 316,
or provide client certificates which can enable direct
authentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explained
below.
[0065] In more detail, the application management framework 314
"wraps" each managed application 310. This can be incorporated via
an explicit build step, or via a post-build processing step. The
application management framework 314 can "pair" with client agent
304 on first launch of an application 310 to initialize the Secure
IPC channel and obtain the policy for that application. The
application management framework 314 can enforce relevant portions
of the policy that apply locally, such as the client agent login
dependencies and some of the containment policies that restrict how
local OS services can be used, or how they can interact with the
application 310.
[0066] The application management framework 314 can use services
provided by client agent 304 over the Secure IPC channel 312 to
facilitate authentication and internal network access. Key
management for the private and shared data vaults 316 (containers)
can be also managed by appropriate interactions between the managed
applications 310 and client agent 304. Vaults 316 can be available
only after online authentication, or can be made available after
offline authentication if allowed by policy. First use of vaults
316 can require online authentication, and offline access can be
limited to at most the policy refresh period before online
authentication is again required.
[0067] Network access to internal resources can occur directly from
individual managed applications 310 through access gateway 306. The
application management framework 314 is responsible for
orchestrating the network access on behalf of each application 310.
Client agent 304 can facilitate these network connections by
providing suitable time limited secondary credentials obtained
following online authentication. Multiple modes of network
connection can be used, such as reverse web proxy connections and
end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 318.
[0068] The Mail and Browser managed applications 310 can have
special status and can make use of facilities that might not be
generally available to arbitrary wrapped applications. For example,
the Mail application can use a special background network access
mechanism that allows it to access Exchange over an extended period
of time without requiring a full AG logon. The Browser application
can use multiple private data vaults to segregate different kinds
of data.
[0069] This architecture can support the incorporation of various
other security features. For example, gateway server 306 (including
its gateway services) in some cases might not need to validate
active directory (AD) passwords. It can be left to the discretion
of an enterprise whether an AD password is used as an
authentication factor for some users in some situations. Different
authentication methods can be used if a user is online or offline
(i.e., connected or not connected to a network).
[0070] Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server
306 can identify managed native applications 310 that are allowed
to have access to more sensitive data using strong authentication,
and ensure that access to these applications is only permitted
after performing appropriate authentication, even if this means a
re-authentication is requested from the user after a prior weaker
level of login.
[0071] Another security feature of this solution is the encryption
of the data vaults 316 (containers) on the client device 302. The
vaults 316 can be encrypted so that all on-device data including
clipboard/cache data, files, databases, and configurations are
protected. For on-line vaults, the keys can be stored on the server
(gateway server 306), and for off-line vaults, a local copy of the
keys can be protected by a user password or biometric validation.
When data is stored locally on the device 302 in the secure
container 316, it is preferred that a minimum of AES 256 encryption
algorithm be utilized.
[0072] Other secure container features can also be implemented. For
example, a logging feature can be included, wherein all security
events happening inside an application 310 are logged and reported
to the backend. Data wiping can be supported, such as if the
application 310 detects tampering, associated encryption keys can
be written over with random data, leaving no hint on the file
system that user data was destroyed. Screenshot protection is
another feature, where an application can prevent any data from
being stored in screenshots. For example, the key window's hidden
property can be set to YES. This can cause whatever content is
currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting in a
blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.
[0073] Local data transfer can be prevented, such as by preventing
any data from being locally transferred outside the application
container, e.g., by copying it or sending it to an external
application. A keyboard cache feature can operate to disable the
autocorrect functionality for sensitive text fields. SSL
certificate validation can be operable so the application
specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead of it
being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation feature
can be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device is
generated using a passphrase or biometric data supplied by the user
(if offline access is required). It can be XORed with another key
randomly generated and stored on the server side if offline access
is not required. Key Derivation functions can operate such that
keys generated from the user password use KDFs (key derivation
functions, notably Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2
(PBKDF2)) rather than creating a cryptographic hash of it. The
latter makes a key susceptible to brute force or dictionary
attacks.
[0074] Further, one or more initialization vectors can be used in
encryption methods. An initialization vector might cause multiple
copies of the same encrypted data to yield different cipher text
output, preventing both replay and cryptanalytic attacks. This can
also prevent an attacker from decrypting any data even with a
stolen encryption key. Further, authentication then decryption can
be used, wherein application data is decrypted only after the user
has authenticated within the application. Another feature can
relate to sensitive data in memory, which can be kept in memory
(and not in disk) only when it's needed. For example, login
credentials can be wiped from memory after login, and encryption
keys and other data inside objective-C instance variables are not
stored, as they can be easily referenced. Instead, memory can be
manually allocated for these.
[0075] An inactivity timeout can be implemented via the CEB,
wherein after a policy-defined period of inactivity, a user session
is terminated.
[0076] Data leakage from the application management framework 314
can be prevented in other ways. For example, when an application
310 is put in the background, the memory can be cleared after a
predetermined (configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a
snapshot can be taken of the last displayed screen of the
application to fasten the foregrounding process. The screenshot can
contain confidential data and hence should be cleared.
[0077] Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one
time password) 320 without the use of an AD (active directory) 322
password for access to one or more applications. In some cases,
some users do not know (or are not permitted to know) their AD
password, so these users can authenticate using an OTP 320 such as
by using a hardware OTP system like SecurID (OTPs can be provided
by different vendors also, such as Entrust or Gemalto). In some
cases, after a user authenticates with a user ID, a text is sent to
the user with an OTP 320. In some cases, this can be implemented
only for online use, with a prompt being a single field.
[0078] An offline password can be implemented for offline
authentication for those applications 310 for which offline use is
permitted via enterprise policy. For example, an enterprise can
want storefront to be accessed in this manner. In this case, the
client agent 304 can require the user to set a custom offline
password and the AD password is not used. Gateway server 306 can
provide policies to control and enforce password standards with
respect to the minimum length, character class composition, and age
of passwords, such as described by the standard Windows Server
password complexity requirements, although these requirements can
be modified.
[0079] Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side
certificate for certain applications 310 as secondary credentials
(for the purpose of accessing PKI protected web resources via the
application management framework micro VPN feature). For example,
an application can utilize such a certificate. In this case,
certificate-based authentication using ActiveSync protocol can be
supported, wherein a certificate from the client agent 304 can be
retrieved by gateway server 306 and used in a keychain. Each
managed application can have one associated client certificate,
identified by a label that is defined in gateway server 306.
[0080] Gateway server 306 can interact with an Enterprise special
purpose web service to support the issuance of client certificates
to allow relevant managed applications to authenticate to internal
PKI protected resources.
[0081] The client agent 304 and the application management
framework 314 can be enhanced to support obtaining and using client
certificates for authentication to internal PKI protected network
resources. More than one certificate can be supported, such as to
match various levels of security and/or separation requirements.
The certificates can be used by the Mail and Browser managed
applications, and ultimately by arbitrary wrapped applications
(provided those applications use web service style communication
patterns where it is reasonable for the application management
framework to mediate https requests).
[0082] Application management client certificate support on iOS can
rely on importing a public-key cryptography standards (PKCS) 12
BLOB (Binary Large Object) into the iOS keychain in each managed
application for each period of use. Application management
framework client certificate support can use a HTTPS implementation
with private in-memory key storage. The client certificate might
never be present in the iOS keychain and might not be persisted
except potentially in "online-only" data value that is strongly
protected.
[0083] Mutual SSL or TLS can also be implemented to provide
additional security by requiring that a client device 302 is
authenticated to the enterprise, and vice versa. Virtual smart
cards for authentication to gateway server 306 can also be
implemented.
[0084] Both limited and full Kerberos support can be additional
features. The full support feature relates to an ability to do full
Kerberos login to Active Directory (AD) 322, using an AD password
or trusted client certificate, and obtain Kerberos service tickets
to respond to HTTP Negotiate authentication challenges. The limited
support feature relates to constrained delegation in Citrix Access
Gateway Enterprise Edition (AGEE), where AGEE supports invoking
Kerberos protocol transition so it can obtain and use Kerberos
service tickets (subject to constrained delegation) in response to
HTTP Negotiate authentication challenges. This mechanism works in
reverse web proxy (aka corporate virtual private network (CVPN))
mode, and when http (but not https) connections are proxied in VPN
and MicroVPN mode.
[0085] Another feature relates to application container locking and
wiping, which can automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting
detections, and occur as a pushed command from administration
console, and can include a remote wipe functionality even when an
application 310 is not running.
[0086] A multi-site architecture or configuration of enterprise
application store and an application controller can be supported
that allows users to be service from one of several different
locations in case of failure.
[0087] In some cases, managed applications 310 can be allowed to
access a certificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL).
Trusted managed applications 310 of an enterprise can be allowed to
perform specific Public Key operations with an application's client
certificate and private key. Various use cases can be identified
and treated accordingly, such as when an application behaves like a
browser and no certificate access is used, when an application
reads a certificate for "who am 1," when an application uses the
certificate to build a secure session token, and when an
application uses private keys for digital signing of important data
(e.g., transaction log) or for temporary data encryption.
[0088] Referring now to FIG. 4, depicted is a block diagram of a
system 400 of an embedded browser. In brief overview, the system
400 can include a client device 402 with a digital workspace for a
user, a client application 404, cloud services 408 operating on at
least one network device 432, and network applications 406 served
from and/or hosted on one or more servers 430. The client
application 404 can for instance include at least one of: an
embedded browser 410, a networking agent 412, a cloud services
agent 414, a remote session agent 416, or a secure container 418.
The cloud services 408 can for instance include at least one of:
secure browser(s) 420, an access gateway 422 (or CIS, e.g., for
registering and/or authenticating the client application and/or
user), or analytics services 424 (or CAS, e.g., for receiving
information from the client application for analytics). The network
applications 406 can include sanctioned applications 426 and
non-sanctioned applications 428.
[0089] Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is
implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware and software,
in one or more embodiments. Each component of the system 400 can be
implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware or software
detailed above in connection with FIG. 1. For instance, each of
these elements or entities can include any application, program,
library, script, task, service, process or any type and form of
executable instructions executing on hardware of the client device
402, the at least one network device 432 and/or the one or more
servers 430. The hardware includes circuitry such as one or more
processors in one or more embodiments. For example, the at least
one network device 432 and/or the one or more servers 430 can
include any of the elements of a computing device described above
in connection with at least FIG. 1 for instance.
[0090] The client device 402 can include any embodiment of a
computing device described above in connection with at least FIG. 1
for instance. The client device 402 can be any user device such as
a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a smart
phone, or any other mobile or personal device. The client device
402 can include a digital workspace of a user, which can include
file system(s), cache or memory (e.g., including electronic
clipboard(s)), container(s), application(s) and/or other resources
on the client device 402. The digital workspace can include or
extend to one or more networks accessible by the client device 402,
such as an intranet and the Internet, including file system(s)
and/or other resources accessible via the one or more networks. A
portion of the digital workspace can be secured via the use of the
client application 404 with embedded browser 410 (CEB) for
instance. The secure portion of the digital workspace can include
for instance file system(s), cache or memory (e.g., including
electronic clipboard(s)), application(s), container(s) and/or other
resources allocated to the CEB 410, and/or allocated by the CEB to
network application(s) 406 accessed via the CEB. The secure portion
of the digital workspace can also include resources specified by
the CEB (via one or more policies) for inclusion in the secure
portion of the digital workspace (e.g., a particular local
application can be specified via a policy to be allowed to receive
data obtained from a network application).
[0091] The client application 404 can include one or more
components, such as an embedded browser 410, a networking agent
412, a cloud services agent 414 (sometimes referred to as
management agent), a remote session agent 416 (sometimes referred
to as HDX engine), and/or a secure container 418 (sometimes
referred to as secure cache container). One or more of the
components can be installed as part of a software build or release
of the client application 404 or CEB, or separately acquired or
downloaded and installed/integrated into an existing installation
of the client application 404 or CEB for instance. For instance,
the client device can download or otherwise receive the client
application 404 (or any component) from the network device(s) 432.
In some embodiments, the client device can send a request for the
client application 404 to the network device(s) 432. For example, a
user of the client device can initiate a request, download and/or
installation of the client application. The network device(s) 432
in turn can send the client application to the client device. In
some embodiments, the network device(s) 432 can send a setup or
installation application for the client application to the client
device. Upon receipt, the client device can install the client
application onto a hard disk of the client device. In some
embodiments, the client device can run the setup application to
unpack or decompress a package of the client application. In some
embodiments, the client application can be an extension (e.g., an
add-on, an add-in, an applet or a plug-in) to another application
(e.g., a cloud services agent 414) installed on the client device.
The client device can install the client application to interface
or inter-operate with the pre-installed application. In some
embodiments, the client application can be a standalone
application. The client device can install the client application
to execute as a separate process.
[0092] The embedded browser 410 can include elements and
functionalities of a web browser application or engine. The
embedded browser 410 can locally render network application(s) as a
component or extension of the client application. For instance, the
embedded browser 410 can render a SaaS/Web application inside the
CEB which can provide the CEB with full visibility and control of
the application session. The embedded browser can be embedded or
incorporated into the client application via any means, such as
direct integration (e.g., programming language or script insertion)
into the executable code of the client application, or via plugin
installation. For example, the embedded browser can include a
Chromium based browser engine or other type of browser engine, that
can be embedded into the client application, using the Chromium
embedded framework (CEF) for instance. The embedded browser can
include a HTML5-based layout graphical user interface (GUI). The
embedded browser can provide HTML rendering and JavaScript support
to a client application incorporating various programming
languages. For example, elements of the embedded browser can bind
to a client application incorporating C, C++, Delphi, Go, Java,
.NET/Mono, Visual Basic 6.0, and/or Python.
[0093] In some embodiments, the embedded browser comprises a
plug-in installed on the client application. For example, the
plug-in can include one or more components. One such component can
be an ActiveX control or Java control or any other type and/or form
of executable instructions capable of loading into and executing in
the client application. For example, the client application can
load and run an Active X control of the embedded browser, such as
in a memory space or context of the client application. In some
embodiments, the embedded browser can be installed as an extension
on the client application, and a user can choose to enable or
disable the plugin or extension. The embedded browser (e.g., via
the plugin or extension) can form or operate as a secured browser
for securing, using and/or accessing resources within the secured
portion of the digital workspace.
[0094] The embedded browser can incorporate code and
functionalities beyond that available or possible in a standard or
typical browser. For instance, the embedded browser can bind with
or be assigned with a secured container 418, to define at least
part of the secured portion of a user's digital workspace. The
embedded browser can bind with or be assigned with a portion of the
client device's cache to form a secured clipboard (e.g., local to
the client device, or extendable to other devices), that can be at
least part of the secured container 418. The embedded browser can
be integrated with the client application to ensure that traffic
related to network applications is routed through and/or processed
in the client application, which can provide the client application
with real-time visibility to the traffic (e.g., when decrypted
through the client application). This visibility to the traffic can
allow the client application to perform or facilitate policy-based
management (e.g., including data loss prevention (DLP)
capabilities), application control, and collection and production
of analytics.
[0095] In some embodiments, the embedded browser incorporates one
or more other components of the client application 404, such as the
cloud services agent 414, remote session agent 416 and/or secure
container 418. For instance, a user can use the cloud services
agent 414 of the embedded browser to interoperate with the access
gateway 422 (sometimes referred to as CIS) to access a network
application. For example, the cloud services agent 414 can execute
within the embedded browser, and can receive and transmit
navigation commands from the embedded browser to a hosted network
application. The cloud services agent can use a remote presentation
protocol to display the output generated by the network application
to the embedded browser. For example, the cloud services agent 414
can include a HTML5 web client that allows end users to access
remote desktops and/or applications on the embedded browser.
[0096] The client application 404 and CEB operate on the
application layer of the operational (OSI) stack of the client
device. The client application 404 can include and/or execute one
or more agents that interoperate with the cloud services 408. The
client application 404 can receive, obtain, retrieve or otherwise
access various policies (e.g., an enterprise's custom, specified or
internal policies or rules) and/or data (e.g., from an access
gateway 422 and/or network device(s) of cloud services 408, or
other server(s), that can be managed by the enterprise). The client
application can access the policies and/or data to control and/or
manage a network application (e.g., a SaaS, web or remote-hosted
application). Control and/or management of a network application
can include control and/or management of various aspects of the
network application, such as access control, session delivery,
available features or functions, service level, traffic management
and monitoring, and so on. The network application can be from a
provider or vendor of the enterprise (e.g., salesforce.com, SAP,
Microsoft Office 365), from the enterprise itself, or from another
entity (e.g., Dropbox or Gmail service).
[0097] For example, the cloud services agent 414 can provide policy
driven management capabilities and features related to the use
and/or access of network applications. For example, the cloud
services agent 414 can include a policy engine to apply one or more
policies (e.g., received from cloud services) to determine access
control and/or connectivity to resources such as network
applications. When a session is established between the client
application and a server 430 providing a SaaS application for
instance, the cloud services agent 414 can apply one or more
policies to control traffic levels and/or traffic types (or other
aspects) of the session, for instance to manage a service level of
the SaaS application. Additional aspects of the application traffic
that can be controlled or managed can include encryption level
and/or encryption type applied to the traffic, level of
interactivity allowed for a user, limited access to certain
features of the network application (e.g., print-screen, save, edit
or copy functions), restrictions to use or transfer of data
obtained from the network application, limit concurrent access to
two or more network applications, limit access to certain file
repositories or other resources, and so on.
[0098] The cloud services agent 414 can convey or feed information
to analytics services 424 of the cloud services 408, such as
information about SaaS interaction events visible to the CEB. Such
a configuration using the CEB can monitor or capture information
for analytics without having an inline device or proxy located
between the client device and the server(s) 430, or using a SaaS
API gateway `out-of-band` approach. In some embodiments, the cloud
services agent 414 does not execute within the embedded browser. In
these embodiments, a user can similarly use the cloud services
agent 414 to interoperate with the access gateway (or CIS) 422 to
access a network application. For instance, the cloud services
agent 414 can register and/or authenticate with the access gateway
(or CIS) 422, and can obtain a list of the network applications
from the access gateway (or CIS) 422. The cloud services agent 414
can include and/or operate as an application store (or storefront)
for user selection and/or downloading of network applications. Upon
logging in to access a network application, the cloud services
agent 414 can intercept and transmit navigation commands from the
embedded browser to the network application. The cloud services
agent can use a remote presentation protocol to display the output
generated by the network application to the embedded browser. For
example, the cloud services agent 414 can include a HTML5 web
client that allows end users to access remote desktops and/or
applications on the embedded browser.
[0099] In some embodiments, the cloud services agent 414 provides
single sign on (SSO) capability for the user and/or client device
to access a plurality of network applications. The cloud services
agent 414 can perform user authentication to access network
applications as well as other network resources and services, by
communicating with the access gateway 422 for instance. For
example, the cloud services agent 414 can authenticate or register
with the access gateway 422, to access other components of the
cloud services 408 and/or the network applications 406. Responsive
to the authentication or registration, the access gateway 422 can
perform authentication and/or SSO for (or on behalf of) the user
and/or client application, with the network applications.
[0100] The client application 404 can include a networking agent
412. The networking agent 412 is sometimes referred to as a
software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) agent, mVPN agent, or
microVPN agent. The networking agent 412 can establish or
facilitate establishment of a network connection between the client
application and one or more resources (e.g., server 430 serving a
network application). The networking agent 412 can perform
handshaking for a requested connection from the client application
to access a network application, and can establish the requested
connection (e.g., secure or encrypted connection). The networking
agent 412 can connect to enterprise resources (including services)
for instance via a virtual private network (VPN). For example, the
networking agent 412 can establish a secure socket layer (SSL) VPN
between the client application and a server 430 providing the
network application 406. The VPN connections, sometimes referred to
as microVPN or application-specific VPN, can be specific to
particular network applications, particular devices, particular
secured areas on the client device, and the like, for instance as
discussed above in connection with FIG. 3. Such VPN connections can
carry Microsoft Exchange traffic, Microsoft Active Directory
traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) traffic, HyperText
Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, as some examples.
[0101] The remote session agent 416 (sometimes referred to as HDX
engine) can include features of the client agent 304 discussed
above in connection with FIG. 2 for instance, to support display a
remoting protocol (e.g., HDX or ICA). In some embodiments, the
remote session agent 416 can establish a remote desktop session
and/or remote application session using any variety of protocols,
such as the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Appliance Link Protocol
(ALP), Remote Frame Buffer (RFB) Protocol, and ICA Protocol. For
example, the remote session agent 416 can establish a remote
application session for a user of the client device to access an
enterprise network application. The remote session agent 416 can
establish the remote application session within or over a secure
connection (e.g., a VPN) established by the networking agent 412
for instance.
[0102] The client application or CEB can include or be associated
with a secure container 418. A secure container can include a
logical or virtual delineation of one or more types of resources
accessible within the client device and/or accessible by the client
device. For example, the secure container 418 can refer to the
entirety of the secured portion of the digital workspace, or
particular aspect(s) of the secured portion. In some embodiments,
the secure container 418 corresponds to a secure cache (e.g.,
electronic or virtual clipboard), and can dynamically incorporate a
portion of a local cache of each client device of a user, and/or a
cloud-based cache of the user, that is protected or secured (e.g.,
encrypted). The secure container can define a portion of file
system(s), and/or delineate resources allocated to a CEB and/or to
network applications accessed via the CEB. The secure container can
include elements of the secure data container 228 discussed above
in connection with FIG. 2 for example. The CEB can be configured
(e.g., via policies) to limit, disallow or disable certain actions
or activities on resources and/or data identified to be within a
secure container. A secured container can be defined to specify
that the resources and/or data within the secure container are to
be monitored for misuse, abuse and/or exfiltration.
[0103] In certain embodiments, a secure container relates to or
involves the use of a secure browser (e.g., embedded browser 410 or
secure browser 420) that implements various enterprise security
features. Network applications (or web pages accessed by the secure
browser) that are configured to run within the secure browser can
effectively inherit the security mechanisms implemented by the
secure browser. These network applications can be considered to be
contained within the secure container. The use of such a secure
browser can enable an enterprise to implement a content filtering
policy in which, for example, employees are blocked from accessing
certain web sites from their client devices. The secure browser can
be used, for example, to enable client device users to access a
corporate intranet without the need for a VPN.
[0104] In some embodiments, a secure container can support various
types of remedial actions for protecting enterprise resources. One
such remedy is to lock the client device, or a secure container on
the client device that stores data to be protected, such that the
client device or secure container can only be unlocked with a valid
code provided by an administrator for instance. In some
embodiments, these and other types of remedies can be invoked
automatically based on conditions detected on the client device
(via the application of policies for instance), or can be remotely
initiated by an administrator.
[0105] In some embodiments, a secure container can include a secure
document container for documents. A document can comprise any
computer-readable file including text, audio, video, and/or other
types of information or media. A document can comprise any single
one or combination of these media types. As explained herein, the
secure container can help prevent the spread of enterprise
information to different applications and components of the client
device, as well as to other devices. The enterprise system (which
can be partially or entirely within a cloud network) can transmit
documents to various devices, which can be stored within the secure
container. The secure container can prevent unauthorized
applications and other components of the client device from
accessing information within the secure container. For enterprises
that allow users to use their own client devices for accessing,
storing, and using enterprise data, providing secure container on
the client devices helps to secure the enterprise data. For
instance, providing secure containers on the client devices can
centralize enterprise data in one location on each client device,
and can facilitate selective or complete deletion of enterprise
data from each client device when desired.
[0106] The secure container can include an application that
implements a file system that stores documents and/or other types
of files. The file system can comprise a portion of a
computer-readable memory of the client device. The file system can
be logically separated from other portions of the computer-readable
memory of the client device. In this way, enterprise data can be
stored in a secure container and private data can be stored in a
separate portion of the computer-readable memory of the client
device for instance. The secure container can allow the CEB,
network applications accessed via the CEB, locally installed
applications and/or other components of the client device to read
from, write to, and/or delete information from the file system (if
authorized to do so). Deleting data from the secure container can
include deleting actual data stored in the secure container,
deleting pointers to data stored in the secure container, deleting
encryption keys used to decrypt data stored in the secure
container, and the like. The secure container can be installed by,
e.g., the client application, an administrator, or the client
device manufacturer. The secure container can enable some or all of
the enterprise data stored in the file system to be deleted without
modifying private data stored on the client device outside of the
secure container. The file system can facilitate selective or
complete deletion of data from the file system. For example, an
authorized component of the enterprise's system can delete data
from the file system based on, e.g., encoded rules. In some
embodiments, the client application can delete the data from the
file system, in response to receiving a deletion command from the
enterprise's system.
[0107] The secure container can include an access manager that
governs access to the file system by applications and other
components of the client device. Access to the file system can be
governed based on document access policies (e.g., encoded rules)
maintained by the client application, in the documents and/or in
the file system. A document access policy can limit access to the
file system based on (1) which application or other component of
the client device is requesting access, (2) which documents are
being requested, (3) time or date, (4) geographical position of the
client device, (5) whether the requesting application or other
component provides a correct certificate or credentials, (6)
whether the user of the client device provides correct credentials,
(7) other conditions, or any combination thereof. A user's
credentials can comprise, for example, a password, one or more
answers to security questions (e.g., What is the mascot of your
high school?), biometric information (e.g., fingerprint scan,
eye-scan), and the like. Hence, by using the access manager, the
secure container can be configured to be accessed only by
applications that are authorized to access the secure container. As
one example, the access manager can enable enterprise applications
installed on the client device to access data stored in the secure
container and to prevent non-enterprise applications from accessing
the data stored in the secure container.
[0108] Temporal and geographic restrictions on document access can
be useful. For example, an administrator can deploy a document
access policy that restricts the availability of the documents
(stored within the secure container) to a specified time window
and/or a geographic zone (e.g., as determined by a GPS chip) within
which the client device must reside in order to access the
documents. Further, the document access policy can instruct the
secure container or client application to delete the documents from
the secure container or otherwise make them unavailable when the
specified time period expires or if the client device is taken
outside of the defined geographic zone.
[0109] Some documents can have access policies that forbid the
document from being saved within the secure container. In such
embodiments, the document can be available for viewing on the
client device only when the user is logged in or authenticated via
the cloud services for example.
[0110] The access manager can also be configured to enforce certain
modes of connectivity between remote devices (e.g., an enterprise
resource or other enterprise server) and the secure container. For
example, the access manager can require that documents received by
the secure container from a remote device and/or sent from the
secure container to the remote device be transmitted through
secured tunnels/connections, for example. The access manager can
require that all documents transmitted to and from the secure
container be encrypted. The client application or access manager
can be configured to encrypt documents sent from the secure
container and decrypt documents sent to the secure container.
Documents in the secure container can also be stored in an
encrypted form.
[0111] The secure container can be configured to prevent documents
or data included within documents or the secure container from
being used by unauthorized applications or components of the client
device or other devices. For instance, a client device application
having authorization to access documents from the secure container
can be programmed to prevent a user from copying a document's data
and pasting it into another file or application interface, or
locally saving the document or document data as a new file outside
of the secure container. Similarly, the secure container can
include a document viewer and/or editor that do not permit such
copy/paste and local save operations. Moreover, the access manager
can be configured to prevent such copy/paste and local save
operations. Further, the secure container and applications
programmed and authorized to access documents from the secure
container can be configured to prevent users from attaching such
documents to emails or other forms of communication.
[0112] One or more applications (e.g., applications installed on
the client device, and/or network applications accessed via the
CEB) can be programmed or controlled (e.g., via policy-based
enforcement) to write enterprise-related data only into the secure
container. For instance, an application's source code can be
provided with the resource name of the secure container. Similarly,
a remote application (e.g., executing on a device other than the
client device) can be configured to send data or documents only to
the secure container (as opposed to other components or memory
locations of the client device). Storing data to the secure
container can occur automatically, for example, under control of
the application, the client application, and/or the secure browser.
The client application can be programmed to encrypt or decrypt
documents stored or to be stored within the secure container. In
certain embodiments, the secure container can only be used by
applications (on the client device or a remote device) that are
programmed to identify and use the secure container, and which have
authorization to do so.
[0113] The network applications 406 can include sanctioned network
applications 426 and non-sanctioned network applications 428. By
way of a non-limiting example, sanctioned network applications 426
can include network applications from Workday, Salesforce, Office
365, SAP, and so on, while non-sanctioned network applications 426
can include network applications from Dropbox, Gmail, and so on.
For instance, FIG. 4 illustrates a case where sanctioned
applications 426 are accessed via a CEB. In operation (1), a user
instance of a client application 404, that is installed on client
device 402, can register or authenticate with the access gateway
422 of cloud services 408. For example, the user can authenticate
the user to the client device and login to the client device 402.
The client application can automatically execute, or be activated
by the user. In some embodiments, the user can sign in to the
client application (e.g., by authenticating the user to the client
application). In response to the login or sign-in, the client
application can register or authenticate the user and/or the client
application with the access gateway 422.
[0114] In operation (2), in response to the registration or
authentication of the user, the access gateway 422 can identify or
retrieve a list of enumerated network applications available or
pre-assigned to the user, and can provide the list to the client
application. For example, in response to the registration or
authentication, the access gateway can identify the user and/or
retrieve a user profile of the user. According to the identity
and/or user profile, the access gateway can determine the list
(e.g., retrieve a stored list of network applications matched with
the user profile and/or the identity of the user). The list can
correspond to network applications sanctioned for the user. The
access gateway can send the list to the client application or
embedded browser, which can be presented via the client application
or embedded browser to the user (e.g., in a storefront user
interface) for selection.
[0115] In operation (3), the user can initiate connection to a
sanctioned network application (e.g., a SaaS application), by
selecting from the list of network applications presented to the
user. For example, the user can click on an icon or other
representation of the sanctioned network application, displayed via
the client application or embedded browser. This user action can
trigger the CEB to transmit a connection or access request to a
server that provisions the network application. The request can
include a request to the server (e.g., SaaS provider) to
communicate with the access gateway to authenticate the user. The
server can send a request to the access gateway to authenticate the
user for example.
[0116] In operation (4), the access gateway can perform SSO with
the server, to authenticate the user. For example, in response to
the server's request to authenticate the user, the access gateway
can provide credentials of the user to the server(s) 430 for SSO,
to access the selected network application and/or other sanctioned
network applications. In operation (5), the user can log into the
selected network application, based on the SSO (e.g., using the
credentials). The client application (e.g., the networking agent
412 and/or the remote session agent 416) can establish a secure
connection and session with the server(s) 430 to access the
selected network application. The CEB can decrypt application
traffic received via the secure connection. The CEB can monitor
traffic sent via the CEB and the secured connection to the servers
430.
[0117] In operation (6), the client application can provide
information to the analytics services 424 of cloud services 408,
for analytics processing. For example, the cloud services agent 414
of the client application 404 can monitor for or capture user
interaction events with the selected network application. The cloud
services agent 414 can convey the user interaction events to the
analytics services 424, to be processed to produce analytics.
[0118] FIG. 5 depicts an example embodiment of a system for using a
secure browser. In brief overview, the system includes cloud
services 408, network applications 406 and client device 402. In
some embodiments, various elements of the system are similar to
that described above for FIG. 4, but that the client application
(with embedded browser) is not available in the client device 402.
A non-embedded application browser can be available on the client
device, from which a user can initiate a request to access a
sanctioned network application for instance. A network application
can be specified as being sanctioned or unsanctioned via policies
that can be set by an administrator or automatically (e.g., via
artificial intelligence).
[0119] For example, in operation (1), the user can log into the
network application using the standard browser. For accessing a
sanctioned network application, the user can access a predefined
URL and/or corresponding webpage of a server that provisions the
network application, via the standard browser, to initiate a
request to access the network application. In some embodiments, the
request can be forwarded to or intercepted by a designated gateway
service (e.g., in a data path of the request). For example, the
gateway service can reside on the client device (e.g., as an
executable program), or can reside on a network device 432 of the
cloud services 408 for instance. In some embodiments, the access
gateway can correspond to or include the gateway service. The
gateway service can determine if the requested network application
is a sanctioned network application. The gateway service can
determine if a CEB initiated the request. The gateway service can
detect or otherwise determine that the request is initiated from a
source (e.g., initiated by the standard browser) in the client
device other than a CEB. In some embodiments, there is no
requirement for a designated gateway service to detect or determine
if the request is initiated from a CEB, for example if the
requested network application is sanctioned, that user is
initiating the request via a standard browser, and/or that the
predefined URL and/or corresponding webpage is accessed.
[0120] In operation (2), the server can authenticate the user via
the access gateway of the cloud services 408. The server can
communicate with the access gateway to authenticate the user, in
response to the request. For instance, the request can include an
indication to the server to communicate with the access gateway to
authenticate the user. In some embodiments, the server is
pre-configured to communicate with the access gateway to
authenticate the user, for requests to access a sanctioned network
application. The server can send a request to the access gateway to
authenticate the user. In response to the server's request to
authenticate the user, the access gateway can provide credentials
of the user to the server 430.
[0121] In operation (3), the gateway service and/or the server can
direct (or redirect) all traffic to a secure browser 420 which
provides a secure browsing service. This can be in response to at
least one of: a determination that the requested network
application is a sanctioned network application, a determination
that the request is initiated from a source other than a CEB, a
determination that the requested network application is sanctioned,
a determination that user is initiating the request via a standard
browser, and/or a determination that the predefined URL and/or
corresponding webpage is accessed.
[0122] The user's URL session can be redirected to the secure
browser. For example, the server, gateway service and/or the access
gateway can generate and/or send a URL redirect message to the
standard browser, responsive to the determination. The secure
browser plug-in of the standard browser can receive the URL
redirect message, and can for example send a request to access the
non-sanctioned network application, to the secure browser 420. The
secure browser 420 can direct the request to the server of the
non-sanctioned network application. The URL redirect message can
instruct the standard browser (and/or the secure browser plug-in)
to direct traffic (e.g., destined for the network application) from
the standard browser to the secure browser 420 hosted on a network
device. This can provide clientless access and control via dynamic
routing though a secure browser service. In some embodiments, a
redirection of all traffic to the secure browser 420 is initiated
or configured, prior to performing authentication of the user
(e.g., using SSO) with the server.
[0123] In some embodiments, the gateway service can direct or
request the server of the requested network application to
communicate with the secure browser 420. For example, the gateway
service can direct the server and/or the secure browser to
establish a secured connection between the server and the secure
browser, for establishing an application session for the network
application.
[0124] In some embodiments, the secured browser 420 comprises a
browser that is hosted on a network device 432 of the cloud
services 408. The secured browser 420 can include one or more
features of the secured browser 420 described above in connection
with at least FIG. 4 for instance. The hosted browser can include
an embedded browser of a CEB that is hosted on the network device
432 instead of on the client device. The hosted browser can include
an embedded browser of a hosted virtualized version of the CEB that
is hosted on the network device 432. Similar to the CEB installed
on the client device, traffic is routed through the CEB hosted on
the network device, which allows an administrator to have
visibility of the traffic through the CEB and to remain in control
for security policy control, analytics, and/or management of
performance.
[0125] FIG. 6 illustrates an example implementation for browser
redirection using a secure browser plug-in. In brief overview, the
implementation includes a web browser 512 with a secure browser
plug-in 516 operating on a client device, and a hosted web browser
(or secure browser) 522 residing on a network device. The web
browser 512 can correspond to a standard browser, instead of an
embedded browser as discussed above in connection with FIG. 4 for
example. The secure browser plug-in 516 can execute within a first
network 510 and access a server 430 in a second network 530. The
first network 510 and the second network 530 are for illustration
purposes and can be replaced with fewer or additional computer
networks. A secure browser plug-in 516 can be installed on the
standard browser 512. The plug-in can include one or more
components. One such component can include an ActiveX control or
Java control or any other type and/or form of executable
instructions capable of loading into and executing in the standard
browser. For example, the standard browser can load and run an
Active X control of the secure browser plug-in 516, in a memory
space or context of the standard browser. In some embodiments, the
secure browser plug-in can be installed as an extension on the
standard browser, and a user can choose to enable or disable the
plugin or extension. The secure browser plug-in can communicate
and/or operate with the secured browser 420 for securing, using
and/or accessing resources within the secured portion of the
digital workspace.
[0126] By using the secure browser plug-in 516 operating within the
standard browser 512 network applications accessed via the standard
browser 512 can be redirected to a hosted secure browser. For
instance, the secure browser plug-in 516 can be implemented and/or
designed to detect that a network application is being accessed via
the standard browser, and can direct/redirect traffic from the
client device associated with the network application, to the
hosted secure browser. The hosted secure browser can direct traffic
received from the network application, to the secure browser
plug-in 516 and/or a client agent 514 for rendering and/or display
for example. The client agent 514 can execute within the web
browser 512 and/or the secure browser plug-in, and can include
certain elements or features of the client application 404
discussed above in connection with at least FIG. 4 for example. For
instance, the client agent 514 can include a remote session agent
416 for rendering the network application at the web browser 512.
In some embodiments, the network application is rendered at the
hosted secure browser, and the rendered data is conveyed or
mirrored to the secure browser plug-in 516 and/or the client agent
514 for processing and/or display.
[0127] By way of an example, a user can be working remotely and can
want to access a network application that is internal to a secure
corporate network while the user is working on a computing device
connected to an unsecure network. In this case, the user can be
utilizing the standard browser 512 executing in the first network
510, in which the first network 510 can comprise an unsecure
network. The server 430 that the user wants to access can be on the
second network 530, in which the second network 530 comprises a
secure corporate network for instance. The user might not be able
to access the server 430 from the unsecure first network 510 by
clicking on an internal uniform record locator (URL) for the secure
website 532. That is, the user may need to utilize a different URL
(e.g., an external URL) while executing the standard browser 512
from the external unsecure network 510. The external URL can be
directed to or can address one or more hosted web browsers 522
configured to access server(s) 430 within the second network 530
(e.g., secure network). To maintain secure access, the secure
browser plug-in 516 can redirect an internal URL to an external URL
for a hosted secure browser.
[0128] The secure browser plug-in 516 can implement network
detection in order to identify whether or not to redirect internal
URLs to external URLs. The standard browser 512 can receive a
request comprising an internal URL for a website executing within
the secure network. For example, the standard browser 512 can
receive the request in response to a user entering a web address
(e.g., for secure website 532) in the standard browser. The secure
browser plug-in 516 can redirect the user web browser application
512 from the internal URL to an external URL for a hosted web
browser application. For example, the secure browser plug-in 516
can replace the internal URL with an external URL for the hosted
web browser application 522 executing within the secure network
530.
[0129] The secure browser plug-in 516 can allow the client agent
514 to be connected to the hosted web browser application 522. The
client agent 514 can comprise a plug-in component, such as an
ActiveX control or Java control or any other type and/or form of
executable instructions capable of loading into and executing in
the standard browser 512. For example, the client agent 514 can
comprise an ActiveX control loaded and run by a standard browser
512, such as in the memory space or context of the user web browser
application 512. The client agent 514 can be pre-configured, in
some examples, to present the content of the hosted web browser
application 522 within the user web browser application 512.
[0130] The client agent 514 can connect to a server or the
cloud/hosted web browser service 520 using a thin-client or
remote-display protocol to present display output generated by the
hosted web browser application 522 executing on the service 520.
The thin-client or remote-display protocol can be any one of the
following non-exhaustive list of protocols: the Independent
Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol developed by Citrix Systems,
Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.
[0131] The hosted web browser application 522 can navigate to the
requested network application in full-screen mode, and can render
the requested network application. The client agent 514 can present
the content or rendition of the network application on the web
browser application 512 in a seamless and transparent manner such
that it appears that the content is being displayed by the standard
browser 512, e.g., based on the content being displayed in full
screen mode. In other words, the user can be given the impression
that the website content is displayed by the user web browser
application 512 and not by the hosted web browser application 522.
The client agent 514 can transmit navigation commands generated by
the user web browser application 512 to the hosted web browser
application 522 using the thin-client or remote-display protocol.
Changes to the display output of the hosted web browser application
522, due to the navigation commands, can be reflected in the user
web browser application 512 by the client agent 514, giving the
impression to the user that the navigation commands were executed
by the user web browser application 512.
[0132] Referring again to FIG. 5, and in operation (4), a new
browser tab can open on the standard browser, to render or display
the secure browser session. The new browser tab can be established
or opened by the secure browser plug-in for instance. The secure
browser plug-in and/or a client agent can receive data from the
secure browser session, and can render the network application
within the new browser tab as discussed above in connection with
FIG. 6 for instance.
[0133] In operation (5), the secure browser can feed all user
interaction events via the network application, back to analytics
service for processing. The secure browser plug-in can monitor for
and intercept any user interaction events directed to the rendition
of the network application within the browser tab. Hence, a user
can use a native (or standard) browser to access a network
application while allowing visibility into the network
application's traffic, via the interoperation of cloud services and
a secure browser (in the absence of the client application).
[0134] FIG. 7 depicts another example embodiment of a system of
using a secure browser. In brief overview, the system includes
cloud services 408, network applications 406 and the client device
402. In some embodiments, various elements of the system are
similar to that described above for FIG. 5. A client application
with embedded browser is not available in the client device 402. A
standard or typical (e.g., HTML5) browser is available on the
client device, from which a user can initiate a request to access a
non-sanctioned network application. A network application can be
specified as being sanctioned or non-sanctioned via policies that
can be set by an administrator or automatically (e.g., via
artificial intelligence).
[0135] In operation (1), the user can attempt to log into a
non-sanctioned network application using the standard browser. The
user can attempt to access a webpage of a server that provisions
the network application, and to initiate a request to access the
network application. In some embodiments, the request can be
forwarded to or intercepted by a designated gateway service (e.g.,
in a data path of the request). For example, the gateway service
(sometimes referred to as SWG) can reside on the client device
(e.g., as an executable program), or can reside on a network device
432 of the cloud services 408 for instance. The gateway service can
detect or otherwise determine if the requested network application
is a sanctioned network application. The gateway service can
determine if a CEB initiated the request. The gateway service can
detect or otherwise determine that the request is initiated from a
source (e.g., initiated by the standard browser) in the client
device other than a CEB.
[0136] In operation (2), the gateway service detects that the
requested network application is a non-sanctioned network
application. The gateway service can for instance extract
information from the request (e.g., destination address, name of
the requested network application), and compare the information
against that from a database of sanctioned and/or non-sanctioned
network applications. The gateway service can determine, based on
the comparison, that the requested network application is a
non-sanctioned network application.
[0137] In operation (3), responsive to the determination, the
gateway service can block access to the requested network
application, e.g., by blocking the request. The gateway service can
generate and/or send a URL redirect message to the standard
browser, responsive to the determination. The URL redirect message
can be similar to a URL redirect message sent from the server to
the standard browser in FIG. 5 in operation (3). A secure browser
plug-in of the standard browser can receive the URL redirect
message, and can for example send a request to access the
non-sanctioned network application, to the secure browser 420. The
secure browser 420 can direct the request to the server of the
non-sanctioned network application.
[0138] The server of the non-sanctioned network application can
authenticate the user via the access gateway of the cloud services
408, e.g., responsive to receiving the request from the secure
browser. The server can communicate with the access gateway to
authenticate the user, in response to the request. The server can
send a request to the access gateway to authenticate the user. In
response to the server's request to authenticate the user, the
access gateway can provide credentials of the user to the server
430. Upon authentication, the secure browser (or a corresponding
CEB) can establish a secured connection and an application session
with the server.
[0139] In operation (4), a new browser tab can open on the standard
browser, to render or display the secure browser's application
session. The new browser tab can be established or opened by the
secure browser plug-in for instance. The secure browser plug-in
and/or a client agent can receive data from the secure browser
session, and can render the network application within the new
browser tab as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 5-6 for
instance.
[0140] In operation (5), the secure browser can feed all user
interaction events via the network application, back to analytics
service for processing. The secure browser plug-in can monitor for
and intercept any user interaction events directed to the rendition
of the network application within the browser tab. Hence, a user
can use a native (or standard) browser to access a network
application while allowing visibility into the network
application's traffic, via the interoperation of cloud services and
a secure browser (in the absence of the client application).
[0141] In some embodiments, in the absence or non-availability of a
CEB on the client device, browser redirection is performed so that
each requested network application is accessed via a corresponding
hosted secure browser (or hosted CEB) for handling, instead of
having all traffic redirected through a single hosted secure
browser (or hosted CEB). Each dedicated secure browser can provide
compartmentalization and improved security.
[0142] The use of a CEB, whether hosted or local to the client
device, can allow for end-to-end visibility of application traffic
for analytics, service level agreement (SLA), resource utilization,
audit, and so on. In addition to such visibility, the CEB can be
configured with policies for managing and controlling any of these
as well as other aspects. For example, DLP features can be
supported, to control "copy and paste" activities, download of
files, sharing of files, and to implement watermarking for
instance. As another example, the CEB can be configured with
policies for managing and controlling access to local drives and/or
device resources such as peripherals.
[0143] Referring now to FIG. 8, an example embodiment of a system
for using local embedded browser(s) and hosted secured browser(s)
is depicted. An environment is shown where different types of
client devices 402A, 402B can be used (e.g., in a BYOD context),
such that one can be locally equipped with a suitable CEB, and
another client device may not have a suitable local CEB installed.
In such an environment, systems described in FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 can
be used to support each of the client devices based on the
availability of a locally installed and suitable CEB.
[0144] FIG. 9 depicts an example process flow for using local
embedded browser(s) and hosted secured browser(s). The process flow
can be used in the environment described above in FIG. 8, to
determine whether an embedded browser or a hosted secured browser
should be used for each client device to access a network
application. For example, in operation 901, a HTTP client can
attempt to access a web service (e.g., server of a network
application). In operation 903, the web service can redirect the
HTTP client to a gateway service for authentication. In operation
905, the gateway service can determine if the HTTP client is a CEB.
If so, in operation 909, the gateway service can determine if the
CEB is a suitable CEB, e.g., capable of enforcing defined
application policies. If so, in operation 911, the CEB is allowed
access to the web service, and can enforce the defined
policies.
[0145] If the gateway service determines that the HTTP client is
not a CEB, the gateway service can cause a virtualized version of a
CEB to be initialized and hosted on a remote server (e.g., a
network device 432 of cloud services 408), in operation 907. In
some embodiments, such a hosted CEB can already be available on a
network device 432, and can be selected for use. For example in
operation 911, the CEB is allowed access to the web service, and
can enforce the defined policies.
[0146] If the gateway service determines that the HTTP client is a
CEB, but that the CEB is not a suitable CEB, the gateway service
can cause a virtualized version of a CEB to be initialized and
hosted on a remote server (e.g., a network device 432 of cloud
services 408), in operation 907. In some embodiments, such a hosted
CEB can already be available on a network device 432, and can be
selected for use. For example in operation 911, the CEB is allowed
access to the web service, and can enforce the defined
policies.
[0147] In some embodiments, if the user is requesting access to a
web application located in a company data center, the gateway
service (in cloud service or on premise) can allow access when the
client application with CEB is detected. Otherwise, the request can
be routed to a service with the hosted virtualized version of the
CEB, and then access is authenticated and granted.
[0148] At operation 905 and/or operation 909 for instance, the
decisions made on whether the HTTP client is a CEB and whether it
is a suitable CEB can be determined by a number of factors. For
example, to determine if the HTTP client is CEB, the gateway
service can take into account factors, for example including at
least one of: user Identity and strength of authentication, client
Location, client IP Address, how trusted the user identity, client
location, client IP are, jailbreak status of the client device,
status of anti-malware software, compliance to corporate policy of
the client device, and/or remote attestation or other evidence of
integrity of the client software.
[0149] To determine if the CEB is able to honor or support all
defined application policies (which can vary by client version,
client OS platform and other factors), the client device's software
and gateway service can perform capability negotiation and/or
exchange version information. In some embodiments, the gateway
service can query or check a version number or identifier of the
CEB to determine if the CEB is a suitable CEB to use.
[0150] Driving all the traffic though the CEB then allows
additional control of content accessing SaaS and Web based systems.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) of SaaS and Web traffic can be applied
through the CEB app with features including copy and paste control
to other CEB access applications or IT managed devices. DLP can
also be enforced by enabling content to be downloaded only to
designated file servers or services under IT control.
[0151] Referring now to FIG. 10, depicted is an example embodiment
of a system for managing user access to webpages. Some webpages (or
websites) are known to be safe while others can be suspect. A user
can access a webpage via a corresponding URL through a standard
browser. For example, the user can click on a link corresponding to
the URL, which can be included in an email being viewed using a
mail application. An access gateway (SWG) can intercept an access
request generated by the clicking of the link, and can determine if
the corresponding URL is safe or suspect. If the URL is known to be
safe, the access gateway can allow the request to proceed to the
corresponding website or web server. If the URL is suspect, the
access gateway can redirect the request to be handled via a hosted
secure browser. The secure browser can request access for, and
access the webpage (on behalf of the standard browser), and can
allow the webpage information to be conveyed to the standard
browser, similar to the handling of a network application via
browser redirection as discussed in connection with at least FIGS.
5 and 7.
C. Systems and Methods for Systems and Methods for Managing
Sessions to Network Applications Accessed Via a Client Application
Including an Embedded Browser
[0152] The present disclosure is directed towards systems and
methods for managing sessions to network applications accessed via
a client application including an embedded browser. A client
application executing on a client device can allow a user to access
applications (apps) that are served from and/or hosted on one or
more servers, such as web applications and SaaS applications
(hereafter sometimes generally referred to as network
applications). A browser that is embedded or integrated with the
client application can render to the user a network application
that is accessed or requested via the client application, and can
enable interactivity between the user and the network application.
The browser is sometimes referred to as an embedded browser, and
the client application with embedded browser (CEB) is sometimes
referred to as a workspace application. The client application can
establish a secure connection to the one or more servers to provide
an application session for the user to access the network
application using the client device and the embedded browser. The
embedded browser can be integrated with the client application to
ensure that traffic related to the network application is routed
through and/or processed in the client application, which can
provide the client application with real-time visibility to the
traffic (e.g., when decrypted through the client application), and
user interactions and behavior. The embedded browser can provide a
seamless experience to a user as the network application is
requested via the user interface (shared by the client application
and the embedded browser) and rendered through the embedded browser
within the same user interface. By using the embedded browser, the
present disclosure can apply a consistent enforcement policy across
different SaaS apps accessed via the client device executing with
the embedded browser. For example, SaaS apps or services can have a
variety of session timeout policies, or no timeout policy. The
present disclosure can set, configure, provide or otherwise apply a
single policy, or a per app policy that applies to all web or SaaS
apps launched from the CEB.
[0153] The client application can monitor keyboard activity during
usage of each CEB session. When the time limit set by the
administrator (or other entity or file) is reached, the client
application can execute a command to kill the CEB app for all CEB
sessions (of a single application or multiple applications).
Further, the systems and methods of the present disclosure can
allow a policy to keep sessions launched in the CEB to be kept
alive as long as there is any activity in any of the CEB sessions.
The activity monitor for each CEB session can report actual
keyboard activity to the primary CEB app. Each CEB session can
include a process to simulate keyboard activity. The simulated
keyboard activity can include, for example, a blank space and enter
then backspace or other keyboard activity that reports activity to
the SaaS system but does not alter the desired user input into the
CEB app or CEB session. The client application can execute the
keyboard simulation in each idle CEB session when there is actual
keyboard activity in any CEB session. However, when there is no
actual keyboard activity in any session, the keyboard simulation
will not be run. Thus, the client application can facilitate timing
out all sessions according to the policy.
[0154] Referring to FIG. 11, depicted is a block diagram of one
embodiment of a system 1100 for managing sessions to network
applications. The system 1100 can include one or more servers 430
and one or more client devices 402. The system 1100 can include one
or more input/output devices 1118 communicatively coupled or
connected to the client device 402. The system 1100 can include a
client application 404 that includes an embedded browser 410 that
can render information of a network application 406 accessed via
the client application 404. The client application 404 can be an
instance of the client application 404 previously detailed herein.
The client application 404 with the embedded browser 410 (CEB) can
include any element of a CEB as previously described herein. In
some embodiments, the client applications 404 can execute on a
client device 402 operated by a user. In some embodiments, the
client device 402 can include one or more policy managers 1112. In
some embodiments, the client device 402 can include one or more
activity monitors 1114. In some embodiments, the client device 402
can include one or more activity simulators 1116. In some
embodiments, the client application 404 can establish or execute
the one or more policy managers 1112. In some embodiments, the
client application 404 can establish or execute the one or more
activity monitors 1114. In some embodiments, the client application
404 can establish or execute the one or more activity simulators
1116.
[0155] The network application 406 can be an instance of the
network application 406 previously detailed herein. The network
application can include any type or form of network application 406
previously detailed herein. The one or more client devices 402 can
communicate, interface with, or otherwise interact with the one or
more servers via a network 1104. The network 1104 can include one
or more component or functionality of the transport network 262
depicted in FIG. 2 or the public internet 284 depicted in FIG. 2,
or some other network or Internet communication channel.
[0156] Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is
implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware and software,
in one or more embodiments. Each component of the system 1100 can
be implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware or
software detailed above in connection with FIG. 1. For instance,
each of these elements or entities can include any application,
program, library, script, task, service, process or any type and
form of executable instructions executing on hardware of a client
device (e.g., the client applications 404). The hardware includes
circuitry such as one or more processors in one or more
embodiments.
[0157] Still referring to FIG. 11, and in further detail, the
system 1100 can include a client application 404. The client
application 404 can be designed, constructed or operational to
establish a session 1106 to a network application. The client
application 404 can establish one or more sessions 1106 to one or
more network applications 406. For example, the client application
404 can establish a single session 1106 to a single network
application 406. The client application 404 can establish multiple
sessions 1106 to a single network application 406. The client
application 404 can establish a single separate session 1106 to
multiple respective network applications 406. The client
application 404 can establish multiple sessions 1106 to each of
multiple network applications 406.
[0158] The client application 404 can establish the sessions 1106
to the one or more network applications 406 via an embedded browser
410 of the client application 404 or client device 402. The client
application 404 can establish multiple sessions 1106 to the one or
more network application 406 by using one or more session
establishment techniques, procedures, protocols, or processes
described in FIG. 4. For example, the client application 404 can
include a networking agent 412 that establishes or facilitates
establishment of a network connection between the client
application 404 and one or more resources (e.g., server 430 serving
a network application 406). The client application 404 can perform
handshaking for a requested connection from the client application
404 to access a network application 406, and can establish the
requested connection (e.g., secure or encrypted connection). The
client application 404 can connect to enterprise resources
(including services) for instance via a virtual private network
(VPN) or secure socket layer (SSL) VPN between the client
application 404 and the server 430 providing the network
application 406. The client application can include a remote
session agent 416, for example as depicted in FIG. 4, to support
display a remoting protocol (e.g., HDX or ICA), or establish a
remote desktop session and/or remote application session for any
variety of protocols, such as the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP),
Appliance Link Protocol (ALP), Remote Frame Buffer (RFB) Protocol,
and ICA Protocol. For example, the client application 404 (e.g.,
via remote session agent 416) can establish a remote application
session for a user of the client device to access an enterprise
network application. Thus, the client application 404 can establish
the remote application session (e.g., session with the network
application 406) within or over a secure connection (e.g., a VPN)
established by the networking agent 412 for instance.
[0159] In some embodiments, the system 1100 can include one or more
policy managers 1112. In some embodiments, the client application
404 can include or execute a policy manager 1112, or otherwise
provide one or more component or functionality of the policy
manager 1112. The policy manager 1112 can be designed, constructed
or operational to identify a session timeout policy for managing a
session of the client application. The client application 404
(e.g., via policy manager 1112) can identify the session timeout
policy specifying a time period (e.g., 1 minute, 2 minute, 3
minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2
hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, etc.) for which a session is
determined to be inactive. In some embodiments, the policy manager
1112 can input one or more values or parameters into the session
timeout policy in order to compute or otherwise determine the time
period for which a session is determined to be inactive. In some
embodiments, the embedded browser can be configured to use the same
session policy or default session policy for all sessions
established via the embedded browser. In some embodiments, the
session timeout policy can be configured for a type of session,
type of network application 406, type of client device 402, user
profile information, organization profile information, or other
environmental factors such as geographic location, time of day,
month, season, etc.
[0160] The client application 404 may receive or identify the
session timeout policy responsive to or at the time of establishing
the session to the network application 406. In some embodiments, to
identify or determine the session timeout policy or the time
period, the client application 404 can query a session policies
data repository 1110. The session policies data repository 1110 can
be managed or maintained by the server 430. The session timeout
policies depository 1110 can be maintained or managed by the same
server that provides the network application 406. In some cases,
the session policies data repository 1110 can be maintained or
managed by a server 430 that is different from the server 430 that
provides the network application 406.
[0161] The session policies data repository 1110 can include one or
more policies for the one or more network applications 406 provided
via the one or more servers 430. The policy can be configured or
established by a provider of the network application 406. The
policy can be configured or established by an administrator of the
network application 406, server 430, or client device 402. For
example, an application developer that developed network
application 406 can establish a session policy for the network
application 406. In another example, an administrator of the server
430 that runs, executes or otherwise provides the network
application 430 can configure or establish the session policy. In
yet another example, an administrator or user of the client device
402 can configure or establish a session policy for the network
application 406.
[0162] In some embodiments, multiple session policies may be
established or provided for a single network application 406. The
multiple session policies may be consistent or inconsistent with
one another. In some embodiments, the session policy can be
provided to the client application 404 (or policy manager 1112)
responsive to initiating, launching, or accessing the network
application 406 via the embedded browser 410. For example, the
session policies data repository 1110 can transmit or provide the
policy to use for a particular network application 406 or
particular session for the network application 406 responsive to
the client application 404 establishing the session to the network
application 406 via the embedded browser 410. In some cases, the
client application 404 can transmit a request or query to the
session policies data repository 1110 for the session timeout
policy during or responsive to establishment of the session 1106 to
the network application 406 via the embedded browser 410. For
example, during establishment of the session 1106 to the network
application 406, the client application can obtain, retrieve or
otherwise identify one or more parameters or policies associated
with the network application 406 to be used to manage or maintain
the session 1106 to the network application 406. The client
application 406 can obtain the parameters or policies for each of
the sessions to the one or more network applications 406.
[0163] In some embodiments, the policy manager 1112 can transmit a
request or query the session policies data repository 1110 for a
session timeout policy based on an identifier or other parameter or
value associated with the session. For example, the policy manager
1112 can query the session policies data repository 1110 to obtain
a first session timeout policy for a first network application 406.
The policy manager 1112 can query the session policies data
repository 1110 via network 1104. The policy manager 1112 can query
the session policies data repository 1110 via server 430. The
policy manager 1112 can provide one or more identifiers to use to
perform the query. The identifier can be an identifier associated
with the client device 402, such as a device identifier, username,
user identifier, account identifier, or login identifier. The
identifier can be associated with the client application 404 or
embedded browser 410 used to access the network application 406,
such as a version of the client application 404 or embedded browser
406, provider of the client application 404, or other identifier or
indicator of the type or version of the client application 404 or
embedded browser 410. The identifier can be associated with the
network application 406, such as a name of the network application
406, type of network application 406, or version of the network
application 406. Thus, the policy manager 1112 can construct or
generate a request or query to transmit to server 430 to determine
or identify a session timeout policy to use.
[0164] The policy manager 1112 can transmit a request or query to
the session policies data repository 1110 or server 430 for the
session timeout policy. The policy manager 1112 can cause the
session policies data repository 1110 to perform a lookup in the
data repository using the one or more identifiers or other
information provided in the request or query in order to identify
or retrieve the corresponding session timeout policy for the first
network application 406. The session policies data repository 1110
can provide, responsive to the lookup, one or more session timeout
policies. The one or more session timeout policies can correspond
to or be responsive to the one or more identifiers or other
information provided in the query.
[0165] The session policy can vary based on the network application
406 being accessed or parameters or factors associated with the
client device 402 or the session. The session policies can be based
on profile information associated with a client device 402, account
associated with the client device 402, profile associated with the
network application 406, historical session information or
historical session timeout policies used by the client device 402,
account associated with the client device 402, or network
application 406. Factors associated with the client device 402 can
include type of client device (e.g., desktop computer, laptop
computer, tablet computing device, mobile computing device,
smartphone, etc.), public client device 402 versus private client
device 402, operating system of the client device 402, antivirus
software running on the client device 402, type of network
interface being used by the client device 402 (e.g., wired
Ethernet, wireless internet, public internet, private intranet,
etc.), geographic location of the client device 402 (e.g., state,
country, city, work location, home location or traveling location).
Factors associated with the session can include, for example, time
of day of the session, date of the session, number of other
concurrent or overlapping sessions, authentication level of the
session. Factors associated with the network application 406 being
accessed can include, for example, nature or type of the network
application 406 (e.g., a financial application, multimedia player
application, gaming application, security application, etc.).
[0166] The session policies can specify values, conditions,
parameters, activities, triggers, commands or actions that can be
used by the client application 404 or embedded browser 410 to
manage a session 1106 to a network application 406. Example values,
conditions or parameters of session timeout policies can include
time period or duration of the session, time period or duration of
inactivity, network bandwidth usage, processor usage, memory usage,
input/output device usage, geofence around client device 402,
number of concurrent or overlapping sessions, number of errors or
faults detected in a session, number of packet drops associated
with a session, etc. Example commands or actions specified in or by
a session timeout policy can include terminate the session, resume
the session, disconnect the session, disable the session, disable
or limit certain functionality of the session (e.g., input, type of
input, output, type of output, limit memory usage, limit or
throttle processor usage, limit or throttle network bandwidth
usage), request re-entry of authentication or login credentials for
the session, or generate a prompt. For example, the session policy
can be a session timeout policy that specifies a time period for
which a session is determined to be inactive, and command to
terminate the session responsive to detection of session inactivity
for the time period. Thus, the session timeout policy can cause the
client application 404 to terminate the session responsive to
detecting inactivity for the specified time period. If the client
application 404 detects that a session has been inactive for an
amount of time that is greater than or equal to the specified time
of the session timeout policy identified for the session 1106, then
the session policy can cause the client application 404 to
terminate the one or more sessions.
[0167] In another example, a session policy can include a geofence,
and an action can include termination of the session or a prompt
that requests affirmation to continue the session responsive to
triggering of the geofence. A geofence can refer to a geographic
boundary or radius around a specific location, such as a current
location or other predetermined location. The policy can be
triggered responsive to the client device 402 crossing the
geofence.
[0168] In another example, a session policy can include memory
utilization of the session, and an action to limit or prevent
further memory usage. For example, the session policy can set a
maximum allocated memory for the session, and if the session
exceeds the memory amount, the policy can cause the client
application 404 to block further memory usage, generate a prompt to
request authorization for further memory usage, or terminate the
session.
[0169] In another example, a session policy can specify an activity
that triggers an action. The activity can be an activity in the
session, such as a type of input or request. The type of input can
be a malicious or fraudulent input or activity. The activity can be
detected based on a code word, keyword or other term. The activity
can be detected based on a series of inputs or multiple or
excessive requests or inputs. The action can include terminating
the session. The action can include locking an account, the client
application 404, or the embedded browser 410 to prevent further
access to the network application 406 for a predetermined time
period or until an administrator unlocks the client device 402,
client application 404 or embedded browser 410.
[0170] The system 1100 can include an activity monitor 1114
designed, constructed or operational to monitoring activity in the
embedded browser for each of the plurality of sessions. The
activity monitor 1114 can monitor the session for an activity, a
value, a parameter, or other condition specified in the session
policy identified for the session by the policy manager 1112. The
activity monitor 1114 can be executed or initiated by the client
application 404, embedded browser 410, or policy manager 1112. For
example, the client application 404 can initiate, launch or execute
the activity monitor 1114 responsive to establishing the session
1106 to the network application 406. In some cases, the client
application 404 can execute or launch a separate activity monitor
1114 or instance of the activity monitor 1114 for each session 1106
to each network application 406. In some cases, the client
application 402 can consolidate the number of instances of activity
monitors 1114 if there are multiple sessions 1106 that are
configured to track or monitor the same activity or parameter. In
some embodiments, the client application 404 can determine to
invoke or execute the activity monitor 1114 responsive to detecting
that there is more than one session established in the embedded
browser 410. For example, if there is only one session established
in the embedded browser, the client application 404 may determine
not to execute an activity monitor 1114 in order to conserve
computational or power resources, but if there is more than one
session established in the embedded browser 410, then the client
application 404 can determine to execute an activity monitor 1114
for each of the sessions to facilitate enforcement of a consistent
session timeout policy across the multiple sessions. In some
embodiments, the client application 404 can execute the activity
monitor 1114 even if only one session has been established in order
to enforce a session timeout policy that may be different than the
session timeout policy configured by an administrator of the
network application 406 being accessed in the session (e.g.,
enforce a session timeout policy established by a user of the
client device 402 that may have a different timeout value as
compared to the session policy established by the administrator of
the network application 406). If there are different timeout
policies that may conflict with one another, the system can select
the longest timeout policy to apply to all sessions, the shortest
timeout policy to apply to all sessions, or the timeout policy
corresponding to the session or network application having the
highest priority or weight (e.g., based on security requirements or
ability to access sensitive data).
[0171] The activity monitor 1114 can be communicatively coupled to
one or more I/O devices 1118 or an interface of the client device
402 or client application 404 that receives input or provides
output from or to the I/O devices 1118. The activity monitor 114
can access, monitor or track the activity associated with the
session 1106 based on activity associated with the I/O devices
1118. The activity monitor 1114 can track or monitor activity of
the session based on data packets transmitted or received during
the session. For example, the activity monitor 1114 can include a
hooking component configured to intercept or otherwise track or
monitor data packets received or sent during the session 1106 over
network 1104. The activity monitor 1114 can be a part of the
embedded browser 410 or client application 404, or otherwise
integrated or interfaced with the client application 404 or
embedded browser 410.
[0172] The activity monitor 1114 can monitor specific types of
activity as specified by the session policy for the session 1106,
while ignoring or not monitoring or tracking other activity. In
some embodiments, the activity monitor 114 can monitor for a type
of activity without parsing or otherwise processing aspects or
information of the session. For example, the activity monitor 1114
can track or monitor an activity level of the session 1106.
Activity level can be based on input activity into the session
1106, or output activity from the session 1106. The activity level
can be binary, such as inactive (or idle) or active. Inactive or
idle can refer to not detecting any keyboard input for the session
1106 for a specified time period. Inactive or idle can refer to not
detecting any mouse clicks or trackpad clicks or other input into
the session 1106 for the specified time period. Inactive or idle
can refer to or include not receiving any voice input via a
microphone for the session 1106. Inactive or idle can refer to not
receiving any input for the session 1106 via an I/O device 1116
(e.g., movement detected via an accelerometer, audio input detected
via a microphone, visual input detected via a camera, touch input
detected via a multitouch sensor, etc.).
[0173] The activity level can include degrees of activity, such as
inactive, low activity, medium activity, or high activity. The
activity level can include a score or metric, such as an amount of
activity per time period or rate of activity (e.g., number of
keyboard or mouse inputs per second or other time interval).
Activity level can be based on output from the session 1106 (e.g.,
output of network application 1106 accessed via the embedded
browser 410). Output activity level can be based on amount of data
packets output during the session, screen motion, variation or
change in pixels being rendered in the embedded browser 410 for the
session, processor or memory utilization for the session 1106,
etc.
[0174] Thus, the client application 404 or client device 402 can
establish one or more activity monitors 1114 for monitoring each
session 1106 of the multiple sessions 1106 used to access the one
or more network applications 406. The one or more activity monitors
1114 can monitor activity associated with the session 1106 pursuant
to the session policy identified for the session 1106, such as
keyboard activity in each session.
[0175] If the activity monitor 1114 detects that one of the
sessions 1106 is inactive or idle, the client application 404 can
terminate each of the sessions established by the client
application 404. For example, the client application 404 can
terminate each of the sessions 1106 accessed via the embedded
browser 410 responsive to detecting that at least one of the
sessions 1106 is inactive or idle. To do so, the client application
404 can execute a command to terminate the network application 406,
session 1106, or client application 404 itself. Thus, the client
application 404 can terminate all sessions responsive to detecting
that one of the sessions is about to timeout due to inactivity,
thereby providing a consistent session timeout policy for all
sessions.
[0176] In some embodiments, the system 1100 can include an activity
simulator 1116 designed, constructed or operational to simulate
activity in one or more sessions 1106 that are idle if one or more
of the other sessions are active. The client device 402, client
application 404, or embedded browser 410 can initiate, launch,
execute or otherwise establish an activity simulator 1116 for a
session 1106. The client application 404 can execute the activity
simulator 1116 for the idle or inactive sessions responsive to
detecting activity in one of the other sessions. The client
application 404 can execute the activity simulator 1116 for each
idle session if the one or more activity monitors 1114 has detected
that any one of the sessions has activity. For example, the client
application 404 can establish three sessions to one or more network
applications as follows: a first session, a second session, and a
third session. The activity monitor 1114 can detect activity in the
first session, but may detect that the second session and the third
session are both idle or inactive based on not receiving any
keyboard input for the second and third sessions. Responsive to
determining that the first session is active, but the second and
third sessions are inactive or idle, the client application 404 can
execute an activity simulator 1116 for the second session and
execute an activity simulator 1116 for the third session. Further,
the client application 404 can determine to not execute an activity
simulator 1116 for the first session because the client application
404 determined that the first session is active or not idle.
[0177] In some embodiments, however, the client application 404 can
determine to not execute an activity simulator 1116 if the client
application 404 (e.g., via activity monitor 1114) determines that
all of the sessions established by the client application 404 are
inactive or idle. For example, if the client application 404 had
established a total of three sessions, and determined that all
three sessions were idle, then the client application 404 can
determine to forego or not execute the activity simulator 1116,
thus reducing processor and memory utilization on the client device
402 by not simulating activity of each of the idle sessions. Thus,
the client application 404 can determine to not execute the one or
more activity simulators 1116 responsive to the one or more
activity monitors 1114 detecting that all of the sessions are
idle.
[0178] In some embodiments, the client application 404 can
determine to execute an activity simulator 1116 to simulate
activity in one or more sessions responsive to the one more
activity monitors 1114 detecting that the one or more sessions are
idle and that the time period of the session timeout policy has not
been reached for any of the sessions. The activity simulator 1116
can simulate activity to cause the client application 404 or
embedded browser 410 to report activity to the SaaS system, but
does not alter the desired user input, thereby preventing the SaaS
system (e.g., server 430 or network application 406) from
terminating the session. The simulation can be in each idle CEB
session when there is actual activity in any CEB session. When
there is no actual activity in any session, the simulation may not
be run. Thus, the activity simulator 1116 allows for all sessions
1106 established via the embedded browser 410 to time out according
to a single session policy.
[0179] For example, the client application 404 can establish a
first session, a second session, and a third session. The client
application 404 (e.g., via activity monitor 1114) can determine
that the first session is idle based on not detecting any keyboard
activity for the specified time period of the session policy for
the first session. However, the activity monitor 1114 can determine
that the specified time period for the second and third sessions
has not yet been reached. The activity monitor 1114 may or may not
have detected any activity in the second and third sessions, but
since the specified time period for the second and third session
(which may be the same or different specified time period) has not
been reached, the client application 404 can determine to execute
the activity simulator 1114 for the second and third sessions.
Thus, and in some embodiments, because the respective specified
time period for the second and third sessions has not yet been
reached, the client application 404 can execute a respective
activity simulator 1116 for each of the second and third sessions
even though the activity monitor 1114 may not have detected
activity in the second and third sessions.
[0180] The activity simulator 1116 can simulate activity in a
session 1106 for which the client application 404 executes the
activity simulator 1116. The activity simulator 1116 can, in some
embodiments, simulate activity in the session in order to prevent
the session from being terminated due a timeout. For example, if a
first session is active and a second session is idle, then the
activity simulator 1116 can be executed for the second session in
order to simulate activity in the second session, thereby
preventing the second session from being terminated or otherwise
timing out or trigging an action specified by the session policy
for the session.
[0181] The activity simulator 1116 can be configured to simulate
activity in the idle session. The activity can be selected to
prevent the termination of the session pursuant triggering of the
session policy. The activity simulator 1116 can parse the session
policy or otherwise determine the activity based on the session
policy or an instruction or command from the client application
404. For example, if the session policy of the session 1106
monitors keyboard activity for the session 1106 to determine
whether the session 1106 is idle or active, then the activity
simulator 1116 can simulate a keyboard activity to cause the
session 1106 to still be active, thereby preventing termination of
the session. For example, the server 430 or network application 406
executed by the server 430 can keep track of the session 1106 to
determine whether to terminate the session based on the session
being idle. Thus, to prevent the server 430 or network application
406 from terminating the session 1106, the activity monitor 1114
executing on the client device 402 or by the client application 404
can determine whether the session idle and whether to simulate
activity in the session, and then execute the activity simulator
1116 for the session 1106 to simulate activity in the session,
thereby causing the server 430 or network application 406 to detect
activity and determine not to terminate the session 1106 to the
network application 406 via the embedded browser 410.
[0182] The activity simulator 1116 can simulate activity that does
not impact the content of the network application 406. For example,
simulated activity can include one or more keyboard inputs such as
a blank space and then a backspace, thereby nullifying or
cancelling out the previous keyboard activity. Other types of
non-intrusive activity that may not impact the desired input can
include a mouse over on a portion of the rendering of the network
application 406 in the embedded browser 410, a pointer click on a
portion of the rendering, inputting the escape button or other
keyboard input that is known to not cause or trigger an undesired
event or change in the network application 406.
[0183] The activity simulator 1116 can include a virtual
controller, automator, or other program to simulate keypresses. The
activity simulator 1116 can be configured to simulate the activity
in the session 1106 the activity monitor 1114 determines to be
idle, but not in the session 1106 the activity monitor 1114
determines to be active. The activity simulator 1116 can include or
execute a script, program or function to simulate the keyboard
activity. The activity simulator 1116 can include a macro that
simulates the keyboard activity, such as one or more instructions
that are configured to perform the desired simulation. The activity
simulator 1116 can simulate keystrokes to the target session 1106.
The target session 1106 (or target network application 406) may
then believe that the user has manually typed in the keystrokes
using the keyboard, while the keystrokes may actually be fed into
the keyboard buffer for the session 1106 by the activity simulator
1116. The macro configured to feed the keystrokes can include, for
example, characters to simulate and tags that indicate a pause or
duration to allow the target network application 406 to complete or
process the keypress. For example, the macro can include keypress
character "blank space", followed by a pause for 500 milliseconds,
followed by the keypress character "delete."
[0184] In some embodiments, the session policy may be configured to
timeout a first session responsive to the client device 402 being
in the same geographical location for the specified time, whereas a
second session times out based on keyboard activity. The client
application 404 can detect keyboard activity for the second
session, but may detect that the client device 402 has not moved
for the specified time period, which would cause the network
application 406 accessed by the embedded browser 410 in the first
session to timeout. However, the activity monitor 1114, upon
detecting that the session policy for the first session is going to
be triggered, can execute the activity simulator 1116 to simulate
motion or movement of the client device 402, which can be reported
to the SaaS system (e.g., server 430 or network application 406),
thereby preventing the SaaS system from terminating the first
session and maintaining a consistent session timeout policy across
the multiple established sessions, even though the different
sessions are configured with different types of session policies.
For example, location may very important, but the location-based
policy may be overridden by the time out policy based on
non-use.
[0185] The client application 404 can determine whether to execute
an activity simulator 1116 to keep idle sessions from being
terminated, or to not use the activity simulator 1116, thereby
causing an idle session to terminate an active session or a session
that has not yet reached a specified timeout period. For example,
the client application 404 can determine not to execute an activity
simulator 1116 for a session if the activity simulator 1116 has
previously been executed a predetermined number of times (e.g., 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, etc.) for the same session within a
predetermined time period (e.g., 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20
minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours,
24 hours, etc.) to keep the session active.
[0186] In another example, the client application 404 can determine
whether or not to execute an activity simulator 1116 based on a
setting established by an administrator of the client device 402,
client application 404, server 430, or network application 406. The
client application 404 can determine whether or not to execute an
activity simulator 1116 based on a type of client device 402 (e.g.,
execute activity simulators 1116 for desktop computers or laptop
computers, but do not execute activity simulators 1116 for
smartphones), type of operating system, power source (e.g., execute
the activity simulator 1116 if the client device 402 is connected
to a power outlet, but do not execute the activity simulator 1116
if the client device 402 is using a battery and not connected to
the power outlet), or based on devices connected to the client
application 404 (e.g., keep session active if the client device 402
is connected to an external display or is in a presentation mode).
In some embodiment, the client application 404 can determine
whether to execute an activity simulator 1116 based on a profile
established for the user of the client device 402. In some
embodiment, the client application 404 can determine whether to
execute an activity simulator 1116 based on historical activity
associated with the user (e.g., based on log data, if the user
typically re-establishes a first session responsive to a second
sessions going idle and causing termination of both the first and
second sessions, then the client application 404 can automatically
determine to execute the activity simulator 1116 responsive to
detecting that the use has established the first and second
sessions and responsive to detecting that the second session is
idle and is about to be terminated, thereby automatically
determining to prevent termination of the second session and also
automatically preventing termination of both the first and second
sessions).
[0187] In some embodiments, the activity simulator 1116 can be
executed to override a session timeout policy. For example, the
embedded browser may establish a single session to a network
application without establishing any other sessions. The session
timeout policy established by an administrator of the network
application can specify a first timeout value that is less than a
second timeout value specified by a profile associated with an
account of the user of the client device 402. The user of the
client device may prefer to use the second timeout value that is
greater than the first timeout value. Thus, the client application
can execute an activity monitor 1114 to determine when the session
is idle, and then execute an activity simulator 1116 to simulate
activity that gets reported back to the network application 406,
thereby preventing the network application 406 or server 430 from
terminating the session responsive to the session being idle for
the first timeout value, thus overriding the timeout value
specified by the administrator of the network application 406. The
activity monitor 1114 can determine, responsive to detecting
inactivity or idleness for the second timeout value provided by the
user, not to invoke or execute the activity simulator 1116.
Responsive to detecting the second timeout value, the client
application 404 can execute a command to terminate the session or
client application. Further, if the user-specified timeout value is
less than the administrator specified timeout value, the client
application can execute a command to terminate the session or
client application prior to when the network application 406 would
have terminated the session.
[0188] Referring to FIG. 12, depicted is a flow diagram of one
embodiment of a method managing sessions to one or more network
applications accessed via an embedded browser. The functionalities
of the method 1200 can be implemented using, or performed by, the
components detailed herein in connection with FIGS. 1-11. In brief
overview, a client application can establish a session to a network
application at 1205. At 1210, the client application can identify a
session timeout policy. At 1215, the client application can monitor
activity in the sessions. At 1220, the client application can
detect inactivity in at least one of the sessions. At 1225, the
client application can terminate the sessions.
[0189] Still referring to FIG. 12, and in further detail, the
client application can establish a session to a network application
at 1205. The client application can establish multiple sessions to
one or more network applications. The network applications can be
hosted on a server. The client application can include, integrate
with or otherwise interface or communicate with an embedded browser
or CEB to establish the session to the one or more network
applications. The client application can establish the multiple
sessions simultaneously or serially. The client application, in
some examples, can receive an instruction to establish a
predetermined subset of sessions to a predetermined one or more
network applications such that the sessions are concurrent or
overlapping. The client application can receive an instruction to
establish a first session, and then subsequently receive an
instruction or command to establish a second one or more sessions.
The client application can receive the instruction or indication to
establish the session from a user of the client device. In some
embodiments, a first session can provide an instruction or command
to execute the second one or more sessions to one or more network
applications.
[0190] At 1210, the client application can identify a session
timeout policy. The client application can identify a session
timeout policy for managing the sessions of or established by the
client application. The session timeout policy can specify a time
period for which a session is determined to be inactive. The client
application can identify the session policy or session timeout
policy while establishing the session, such as during a handshaking
process or other communication used to establish the session. In
some embodiments, the client application can transmit a request or
query to cloud server hosting the network application in order to
determine the session policy. In some embodiments, the client
application can be preconfigured with a configuration file or data
file that includes an index of session policies. In some
embodiments, the embedded browser can be configured to use the same
session policy or default session policy for all session
established via the embedded browser.
[0191] At 1215, the client application can monitor activity in the
sessions. The client application can monitor activity in the
embedded browser for each of the session established by the
embedded browser. In some embodiments, the client application can
determine to monitor activity responsive to detecting that there
are multiple sessions established via the embedded browser. The
client application can establish one or more activity monitors for
monitoring each session of the plurality of sessions. The client
application can configure the activity monitors to detect or
monitor for the type of activity that would trigger the session
timeout policy, such as keyboard activity, movement, visual
display, pixel changes, audio input or output, etc. The activity
monitor can be executed for each of the session established by the
embedded browser.
[0192] At 1220, the client application can detect inactivity in at
least one of the sessions. The client applications can detect,
responsive to the monitoring, that inactivity of one of the
sessions has reached the time period of the session timeout policy.
For example, if the activity monitor has not detected any keyboard
activity for the session for the specified time period, then the
activity monitor can determine that the session is inactive or
idle.
[0193] At 1225, the client application can terminate the sessions.
The client application can terminate the sessions to the one or
more network applications established via the embedded browser. The
client application can terminate the sessions responsive to the
detection of idleness in a session. To terminate the session, the
client application can execute or provide a termination command.
The client application can transmit the termination command to the
network application. The client application can terminate or exit
the client application itself, thereby terminating or ending all of
the sessions.
[0194] In some embodiments, the client application can establish an
activity simulator to simulate activity in one or more of the idle
sessions. The client application can determine to establish an
activity simulator to simulate activity in each of the idle
sessions to prevent the idle sessions from terminating another
session that may be active. However, if all of the sessions are
idle, then the client application determine to not execute an
activity simulator, thereby allowing all of the sessions to be
terminated by the client application or corresponding network
applications.
[0195] It should be understood that the systems described above can
provide multiple ones of any or each of those components and these
components can be provided on either a standalone machine or, in
some embodiments, on multiple machines in a distributed system. The
systems and methods described above can be implemented as a method,
apparatus or article of manufacture using programming and/or
engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or
any combination thereof. In addition, the systems and methods
described above can be provided as one or more computer-readable
programs embodied on or in one or more articles of manufacture. The
term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to
encompass code or logic accessible from and embedded in one or more
computer-readable devices, firmware, programmable logic, memory
devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, SRAMs, etc.), hardware
(e.g., integrated circuit chip, Field Programmable Gate Array
(FPGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.),
electronic devices, a computer readable non-volatile storage unit
(e.g., CD-ROM, USB Flash memory, hard disk drive, etc.). The
article of manufacture can be accessible from a file server
providing access to the computer-readable programs via a network
transmission line, wireless transmission media, signals propagating
through space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc. The article of
manufacture can be a flash memory card or a magnetic tape. The
article of manufacture includes hardware logic as well as software
or programmable code embedded in a computer readable medium that is
executed by a processor. In general, the computer-readable programs
can be implemented in any programming language, such as LISP, PERL,
C, C++, C#, PROLOG, or in any byte code language such as JAVA. The
software programs can be stored on or in one or more articles of
manufacture as object code.
[0196] While various embodiments of the methods and systems have
been described, these embodiments are illustrative and in no way
limit the scope of the described methods or systems. Those having
skill in the relevant art can effect changes to form and details of
the described methods and systems without departing from the
broadest scope of the described methods and systems. Thus, the
scope of the methods and systems described herein should not be
limited by any of the illustrative embodiments and should be
defined in accordance with the accompanying claims and their
equivalents.
* * * * *