The present invention is embodied in a system and method for providing positional
authentication for client-server systems, such as extranets. In general, an authentication
system of the present invention controls and authenticates access rights to a host
server from a client machine that desires access to the host server via a network
connection, such as an extranet connection. Specifically, the present invention
includes a client machine coupled to a host server, via any suitable connection,
such as an extranet, and a wireless positioning system, such as a global positioning
satellite (GPS). The client machine can be any suitable client computer machine,
such as a desktop computer, portable notebook computer or the like. The client
machine includes a positioning receiver and a positional relation module. The host
server includes an authentication module with predefined access parameters for
standard and positional authentication. A portion of the predefined access parameters
is used to associate specific locations of the client machine with access rights
for positional authentication.
