System and method for key management and user authentication

Abstract

A system and method are presented for key management and user authentication. Secure SSH access may be performed through a public/private set of SSH keys where a user uploads a public SSH key to a key management application. The private SSH key remains with a device associated with a user. The public SSH key is distributed across multiple regions to instances and is region agnostic. Public SSH keys may be distributed and synchronized in a large cloud computing environment where public SSH keys associated with users may be added or removed in order to rebuild system security.

1 . A method for secure SSH access to instances in a cloud managed system using a key management system, wherein a user has a private key from which a public key has been generated and said private key is associated with a device associated with the user, the method comprising:
 a. uploading, by the user, the public key through a web front end secured by an identity management service, wherein the upload is region agnostic;   b. writing the public key, by the key management system, to a database service table;   c. distributing the public key automatically to instances using a common service; and   d. accessing the instance using the user's public key.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identity management service provides secure access using SAML. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the public key is generated locally. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the public key is unique. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the public key has not been used twice in a row by a user. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein region agnostic comprises a keystore distributed to multiple regions. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of accessing further comprises comparing the private key to the public key, wherein if the private and the public key match, granting access, otherwise, denying access. 
     
     
         8 - 21 . (canceled)