US 11,811,762 B2
Sponsor delegation for multi-factor authentication
Jerome Henry, Pittsboro, NC (US); Vinay Saini, Bangalore (IN); and Robert Edgar Barton, Richmond (CA)
Assigned to Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Feb. 5, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/168,276.
Prior Publication US 2022/0255934 A1, Aug. 11, 2022
Int. Cl. H04L 9/40 (2022.01); H04L 9/08 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 63/0884 (2013.01) [H04L 9/0866 (2013.01); H04L 9/0894 (2013.01); H04L 63/0861 (2013.01); H04L 63/102 (2013.01); H04L 63/20 (2013.01); H04L 2463/082 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for using a sponsor as a proxy for multi-factor authentication of a first user account for a first user when a primary multi-factor authentication mechanism is unavailable to the first user account, the method comprising:
registering the sponsor in a multi-factor authentication chain of trust within a third party authentication provider separate from a service, wherein the multi-factor authentication chain of trust is associated with the first user account;
receiving, from the service and to the third party authentication provider, a request for verification of an identity of an access device associated with the first user account;
requesting, from the third party authentication provider to a sponsor, verification of an identity of the access device;
receiving, from a sponsor device associated with the sponsor to the third party authentication provider, a verification that the access device is associated with the first user account; and
sending, from the third party authentication provider to the service, the verification from the sponsor device to grant access to the access device.