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Extended Authentication

Updated over 2 months ago

The trading platform provides an option of extended authentication using SSL certificates, which greatly increases the safety of the system. The extended authentication can be enabled on the server. When it is enabled, the standard authentication is still active. In any case, users need to enter their account details.

  • The authorization algorithm is generally accepted and secure. It is fully analogous to the SSL authentication.

  • Connection between the client and server is established over a custom protocol with the encryption of all data transmitted.

  • A public key can be freely distributed and used to verify the message signed using the secret key. It is guaranteed, that knowing a public key, it is impossible to compute the secret key within a reasonable time. The calculation of a secret key based on a public one, even on powerful modern computers, can take tens or even hundreds of years.

Order of Generating and Receiving a Certificate

When trying to login using an account with the extended authentication, you will need to go through standard authentication. After that, the trade server sends a request to the trading platform to generate two keys: private and public. The public key is sent to the trade server.

Based on the account data, the server generates a certificate and signs it with its private key (the server's private key signature guarantees that the certificate cannot be falsified). After that a window appears in the trading platform, in which you need to enter the password to protect the certificate:

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The following fields and settings are available in this window:

  • Password β€” a password for the certificate installation;

  • Confirm password β€” confirmation of the password to avoid mistyping;

  • Add the certificate to the Windows storage β€” if this option is enabled, the certificate is automatically installed to the operating system storage. If you install the certificate to the system storage, then you can choose not to keep the PFX file of the certificate on the hard disk in the folder /platform_folder/config/certificates. The platform checks the certificate in the system storage or in the specified folder on the hard disk.

The password for the certificate must contain at least two types of symbols (lower case, upper case, digits), and be at least 5 characters long.

After the required data are specified, press "Continue". The certificate is packed and protected by the specified password. The resulting certificate file *.pfx is stored in /platform_folder/config/certificates, from which it can be relocated later. The certificate files are named according to the following rule: Login_ID_Name.pfx, where:

  • Login is the account number;

  • ID is a short name of the company the account was opened in;

  • Name is the name of a client specified when creating the account.

  • Even having access to the *.pfx file, the certificate cannot be used without the password.

  • Certificates are generated only during the first account connection or when a certificate is intentionally reset on the server.

  • The certificate is not required when connecting using an investor password.

Authentication

Further, each time you connect in the extended authentication mode, you will need to enter the certificate password together with the main account details:

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Confirmation of Certificates

An additional mode of certificate confirmation can be enabled on the server to significantly increase the safety of the platform. Until the certificate is confirmed, connection is only possible in the investor mode without the possibility to trade.

In this mode, after a certificate is received, a special email is sent to the platform, describing actions to be taken to confirm the certificate (for example, call the number specified and confirm user identity). The email can be viewed on the Mailbox tab of the Toolbox window.

Once the certificate is confirmed, a user can trade from this account.

  • For demo accounts, certificates are confirmed automatically straight after generation.

  • After the certificate has been confirmed, it's necessary to reconnect using the account details.

Move Certificates to Another PC

To connect to an account with an extended authentication, a user requires a certificate. To work with the account on several computers or on a new computer, you need to move/copy the certificate.

To move the certificate, copy its PFX file from /platform_folder/config/certificates of the source computer to the same folder on the target computer.

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