Inventors:
Klaus U. Schutz - Kirkland WA, US
Stefan Richards - Sammamish WA, US
Eric C. Perlin - Redmond WA, US
Cristian Ilac - Sammamish WA, US
Sterling M. Reasor - Bellevue WA, US
Eric Flo - Sammamish WA, US
John Stephens - Sammamish WA, US
Benjamin A. Hutz - Providence RI, US
Assignee:
Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA
International Classification:
G06F 7/00
G06F 17/30
US Classification:
707 9, 707 8, 713185, 713183, 713155, 713167
Abstract:
A credential is translated with one of different credential provider modules each translating a corresponding different type of credential into a common protocol. The translated credential is communicated through an API to a logon UI module to an operating system (OS) of a local machine. An OS logon module is called by the logon UI module to authenticate the translated credential against a credential database. A user identified by the translated credential is logged on to access the local machine when the authentication is successful. The credential can also be used with a selection received from the logon UI module via a corresponding one of different pre-log access provider (PLAP) modules that each communicate with the API. The API establishes a network session with an access service specified by the selected PLAP module when the credential is authenticated with the credential database.