Seamless and Secure Authentication for Grid Portals

Grid portals typically store user grid credentials in a credential repository. Credential repositories allow users to access Grid portals from any machine having a Web browser, but their usage requires several authentication steps. Current portals require users to explicitly go through these steps, thereby hindering their usability. In this paper we present intuitive and easy to use tools to manage certificates. We also describe the integration of Grid Security Infrastructure authentication into a Java-based SSH terminal tool. Based on these tools, we build an innovative portal authentication mechanism that enables transparent delegation of credentials between clients, grid portal and the credential repository.