Techniques are provided for client application authentication and include receiving a request to authenticate an application and, based on the received request to authenticate the application, sending a request to perform a push communication, including a short-term shared key, to a digital distribution system, wherein the digital distribution system is a distribution source of the application. The digital distribution system attempts to send the push communication including the short-term shared key to the application. The techniques may proceed by receiving a request for resources from the provider client application and determining whether the application has the short-term shared key. When it is determined that the application has provided the short-term shared key, the requested resources to the application may be provided, otherwise, the requested resources may be denied.