From Conventional to State-of-the-Art IoT Access Control Models

open access articleThe advent in Online Social Networks (OSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) has created a new world of collaboration and communication between people and devices. The domain of internet of things uses billions of devices (ranging from tiny sensors to macro scale devices) that continuously produce and exchange huge amounts of data with people and applications. Similarly, more than a billion people are connected through social networking sites to collaborate and share their knowledge. The applications of IoT such as smart health, smart city, social networking, video surveillance and vehicular communication are quickly evolving people’s daily lives. These applications provide accurate, information-rich and personalized services to the users. However, providing personalized information comes at the cost of accessing private information of users such as their location, social relationship details, health information and daily activities. When the information is accessible online, there is always a chance that it can be used maliciously by unauthorized entities. Therefore, an effective access control mechanism must be employed to ensure the security and privacy of entities using OSN and IoT services. Access control refers to a process which can restrict user’s access to data and resources. It enforces access rules to grant authorized users an access to resources and prevent others. This survey examines the increasing literature on access control for traditional models in general, and for OSN and IoT in specific. Challenges and problems related to access control mechanisms are explored to facilitate the adoption of access control solutions in OSN and IoT scenarios. The survey provides a review of the requirements for access control enforcement, discusses several security issues in access control, and elaborates underlying principles and limitations of famous access control models. We evaluate the feasibility of current access control models for OSN and IoT and provide the future development direction of access control for the sam

Steps towards adaptive situation and context-aware access: a contribution to the extension of access control mechanisms within pervasive information systems

L'évolution des systèmes pervasives a ouvert de nouveaux horizons aux systèmes d'information classiques qui ont intégré des nouvelles technologies et des services qui assurent la transparence d'accès aux resources d'information à n'importe quand, n'importe où et n'importe comment. En même temps, cette évolution a relevé des nouveaux défis à la sécurité de données et à la modélisation du contrôle d'accès. Afin de confronter ces challenges, differents travaux de recherche se sont dirigés vers l'extension des modèles de contrôles d'accès (en particulier le modèle RBAC) afin de prendre en compte la sensibilité au contexte dans le processus de prise de décision. Mais la liaison d'une décision d'accès aux contraintes contextuelles dynamiques d'un utilisateur mobile va non seulement ajouter plus de complexité au processus de prise de décision mais pourra aussi augmenter les possibilités de refus d'accès. Sachant que l'accessibilité est un élément clé dans les systèmes pervasifs et prenant en compte l'importance d'assurer l'accéssibilité en situations du temps réel, nombreux travaux de recherche ont proposé d'appliquer des mécanismes flexibles de contrôle d'accès avec des solutions parfois extrêmes qui depassent les frontières de sécurité telle que l'option de "Bris-de-Glace". Dans cette thèse, nous introduisons une solution modérée qui se positionne entre la rigidité des modèles de contrôle d'accès et la flexibilité qui expose des risques appliquées pendant des situations du temps réel. Notre contribution comprend deux volets : au niveau de conception, nous proposons PS-RBAC - un modèle RBAC sensible au contexte et à la situation. Le modèle réalise des attributions des permissions adaptatives et de solution de rechange à base de prise de décision basée sur la similarité face à une situation importanteÀ la phase d'exécution, nous introduisons PSQRS - un système de réécriture des requêtes sensible au contexte et à la situation et qui confronte les refus d'accès en reformulant la requête XACML de l'utilisateur et en lui proposant une liste des resources alternatives similaires qu'il peut accéder. L'objectif est de fournir un niveau de sécurité adaptative qui répond aux besoins de l'utilisateur tout en prenant en compte son rôle, ses contraintes contextuelles (localisation, réseau, dispositif, etc.) et sa situation. Notre proposition a été validé dans trois domaines d'application qui sont riches des contextes pervasifs et des scénarii du temps réel: (i) les Équipes Mobiles Gériatriques, (ii) les systèmes avioniques et (iii) les systèmes de vidéo surveillance.The evolution of pervasive computing has opened new horizons to classical information systems by integrating new technologies and services that enable seamless access to information sources at anytime, anyhow and anywhere. Meanwhile this evolution has opened new threats to information security and new challenges to access control modeling. In order to meet these challenges, many research works went towards extending traditional access control models (especially the RBAC model) in order to add context awareness within the decision-making process. Meanwhile, tying access decisions to the dynamic contextual constraints of mobile users would not only add more complexity to decision-making but could also increase the possibilities of access denial. Knowing that accessibility is a key feature for pervasive systems and taking into account the importance of providing access within real-time situations, many research works have proposed applying flexible access control mechanisms with sometimes extreme solutions that depass security boundaries such as the Break-Glass option. In this thesis, we introduce a moderate solution that stands between the rigidity of access control models and the riskful flexibility applied during real-time situations. Our contribution is twofold: on the design phase, we propose PS-RBAC - a Pervasive Situation-aware RBAC model that realizes adaptive permission assignments and alternative-based decision-making based on similarity when facing an important situation. On the implementation phase, we introduce PSQRS - a Pervasive Situation-aware Query Rewriting System architecture that confronts access denials by reformulating the user's XACML access request and proposing to him a list of alternative similar solutions that he can access. The objective is to provide a level of adaptive security that would meet the user needs while taking into consideration his role, contextual constraints (location, network, device, etc.) and his situation. Our proposal has been validated in three application domains that are rich in pervasive contexts and real-time scenarios: (i) Mobile Geriatric Teams, (ii) Avionic Systems and (iii) Video Surveillance Systems

Extended role-based access control model for enterprise systems and web services

This thesis intends to develop application-level access control models to address several major security issues in enterprise environments. The first goal is to provide simple and efficient authorization specifications to reduce the complexity of security management. The second goal is to provide dynamic access control for Web service applications. The third goal is to provide an access control framework for Semantic Web services. In this thesis, an Authorization-Function-Based Role-based Access Control (FB-RBAC) model is proposed for controlling enterprise systems at the application level. The unique features of the proposed model are authorization-function-based access control and constraint-based finegrained access control. This model significantly simplifies the management of an access control system by adopting roles and authorization-functions in authorization specifications. An extension of FB-RBAC, Extended FB-RBAC (ERBAC), is applied to Web service applications. New features such as credential-based access control and dynamic role assignment are added to FB-RBAC in order to address user heterogeneity and dynamicity in the Web environment. The proposed ERBAC model is then extended to support Semantic Web services. Each component of the ERBAC model is described by security ontologies. These correlated security ontologies are integrated with Semantic Web services to form a complete ontology network. Ontology-based role assignment is facilitated so that security information can be queries and discovered through a network of ontologies

Context-Based Access for Infrequent Requests in Tanzania\u27s Health Care System

Access control is an important aspect of any information system. It is a way of ensuring that users can only access what they are authorised to and no more. This can be achieved by granting users access to resources based on pre-defined organisational and legislative rules. Although access control has been extensively studied, and as a result, a wide range of access control models, mechanisms and systems have been proposed, specific access control requirements for healthcare systems that needs to support the continuity of care in an accountable manner have not been addressed. This results in a gap between what is required by the application domain and what is actually practised, and thus access control solutions implemented for the domain become too restrictive. The continuity of care is defined as the delivery of seamless health care services to patients through integration, coordination and sharing of information between providers. This thesis, therefore, designs a context-based access control model that allows healthcare professionals to bypass access rules in an accountable manner in case of an infrequent access request involving an emergency situation. This research uses the Tanzania\u27s healthcare system as a case study domain

The Proviado Access Control Model for Business Process Monitoring Components

Integrated process support is highly desirable in environments where data related to a particular business process are scattered over distributed, heterogeneous information systems. A business process monitoring component is a much-needed module in order to provide an integrated view on all these process data. Regarding process visualization and process data integration, access control (AC) issues are very important but also quite complex to be addressed. A major problem arises from the fact that the involved information systems are usually based on heterogeneous AC components. For several reasons, the only feasible way to tackle the problem of AC at the process monitoring level is to define access rights for the process monitoring component, hence getting rid of the burden to map access rights from the information system level. This paper presents the Proviado process visualization framework and discusses requirements for AC in process monitoring, which we derived from our case studies in the automotive domain. It then presents alternative approaches for AC: the view-based and the object-based approach. The latter is retained, and a core AC model is proposed for the definition of access rights that meet the derived requirements. AC mechanisms provided within the core model are key ingredients for the definition of model extensions

Semantic-Based Access Control Mechanisms in Dynamic Environments

The appearance of dynamic distributed networks in early eighties of the last century has evoked technologies like pervasive systems, ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, and more recently, Internet of Things (IoT) to be developed. Moreover, sensing capabil- ities embedded in computing devices offer users the ability to share, retrieve, and update resources on anytime and anywhere basis. These resources (or data) constitute what is widely known as contextual information. In these systems, there is an association between a system and its environment and the system should always adapt to its ever-changing environment. This situation makes the Context-Based Access Control (CBAC) the method of choice for such environments. However, most traditional policy models do not address the issue of dynamic nature of dynamic distributed systems and are limited in addressing issues like adaptability, extensibility, and reasoning over security policies. We propose a security framework for dynamic distributed network domain that is based on semantic technologies. This framework presents a flexible and adaptable context-based access control authoriza- tion model for protecting dynamic distributed networks’ resources. We extend our secu- rity model to incorporate context delegation in context-based access control environments. We show that security mechanisms provided by the framework are sound and adhere to the least-privilege principle. We develop a prototype implementation of our framework and present the results to show that our framework correctly derives Context-Based au- thorization decision. Furthermore, we provide complexity analysis for the authorization framework in its response to the requests and contrast the complexity against possible op- timization that can be applied on the framework. Finally, we incorporate semantic-based obligation into our security framework. In phase I of our research, we design two lightweight Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontologies CTX-Lite and CBAC. CTX-Lite ontology serves as a core ontology for context handling, while CBAC ontology is used for modeling access control policy requirements. Based on the two OWL ontologies, we develop access authorization approach in which access decision is solely made based on the context of the request. We separate context operations from access authorization operations to reduce processing time for distributed networks’ devices. In phase II, we present two novel ontology-based context delegation ap- proaches. Monotonic context delegation, which adopts GRANT version of delegation, and non-monotonic for TRANSFER version of delegation. Our goal is to present context del- egation mechanisms that can be adopted by existing CBAC systems which do not provide delegation services. Phase III has two sub-phases, the first is to provide complexity anal- ysis of the authorization framework. The second sub-phase is dedicated to incorporating semantic-based obligation

DACA: arquitetura para implementação de mecanismos dinâmicos de controlo de acesso em camadas de negócio

Doutoramento em Ciências da ComputaçãoAccess control is a software engineering challenge in database applications. Currently, there is no satisfactory solution to dynamically implement evolving fine-grained access control mechanisms (FGACM) on business tiers of relational database applications. To tackle this access control gap, we propose an architecture, herein referred to as Dynamic Access Control Architecture (DACA). DACA allows FGACM to be dynamically built and updated at runtime in accordance with the established fine-grained access control policies (FGACP). DACA explores and makes use of Call Level Interfaces (CLI) features to implement FGACM on business tiers. Among the features, we emphasize their performance and their multiple access modes to data residing on relational databases. The different access modes of CLI are wrapped by typed objects driven by FGACM, which are built and updated at runtime. Programmers prescind of traditional access modes of CLI and start using the ones dynamically implemented and updated. DACA comprises three main components: Policy Server (repository of metadata for FGACM), Dynamic Access Control Component (DACC) (business tier component responsible for implementing FGACM) and Policy Manager (broker between DACC and Policy Server). Unlike current approaches, DACA is not dependent on any particular access control model or on any access control policy, this way promoting its applicability to a wide range of different situations. In order to validate DACA, a solution based on Java, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and SQL Server was devised and implemented. Two evaluations were carried out. The first one evaluates DACA capability to implement and update FGACM dynamically, at runtime, and, the second one assesses DACA performance against a standard use of JDBC without any FGACM. The collected results show that DACA is an effective approach for implementing evolving FGACM on business tiers based on Call Level Interfaces, in this case JDBC.Controlo de acesso é um desafio para a engenharia de software nas aplicações de bases de dados. Atualmente, não há uma solução satisfatória para a implementação dinâmica de mecanismos finos e evolutivos de controlo de acesso (FGACM) ao nível das camadas de negócio de aplicações de bases de dados relacionais. Para solucionar esta lacuna, propomos uma arquitetura, aqui referida como Arquitetura Dinâmica de Controlo de Acesso (DACA). DACA permite que FGACM sejam dinamicamente construídos e atualizados em tempo de execução de acordo com as políticas finas de controlo de acesso (FGACP) estabelecidas. DACA explora e utiliza as características das Call Level Interfaces (CLI) para implementar FGACM ao nível das camadas de negócio. De entre as características das CLI, destacamos o seu desempenho e os diversos modos para acesso a dados armazenados em bases de dados relacionais. Na DACA, os diversos modos de acesso das CLI são envolvidos por objetos tipados derivados de FGACM, que são construídos e atualizados em tempo de execução. Os programadores prescindem dos modos tradicionais de acesso das CLI e passam a utilizar os dinamicamente construídos e atualizados. DACA compreende três componentes principais: Policy Server (repositório de meta-data dos FGACM), Dynamic Access Control Component (componente da camada de negócio que é responsável pela implementação dos FGACM) e Policy Manager (broker entre DACC e Policy Server). Ao contrário das soluções atuais, DACA não é dependente de qualquer modelo de controlo de acesso ou de qualquer política de controlo de acesso, promovendo assim a sua aplicabilidade a muitas e diversificadas situações. Com o intuito de validar DACA, foi concebida e desenvolvida uma solução baseada em Java, Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) e SQL Server. Foram efetuadas duas avaliações. A primeira avalia DACA quanto à sua capacidade para dinamicamente, em tempo de execução, implementar e atualizar FGACM e, a segunda, avalia o desempenho de DACA contra uma solução sem FGACM que utiliza o JDBC normalizado. Os resultados recolhidos mostram que DACA é uma solução válida para implementar FGACM evolutivos em camadas de negócio baseadas em CLI

Älykäs tunnistauminen ja käyttöoikeuksien hallinta monimuotoisessa verkotetussa maailmassa

Our living environments are full of various connected computing devices. These environments in homes, offices, public spaces, transportation etc. are gaining abilities to acquire and apply knowledge about the environment and its users in order to improve users' experience in that environment. However, before smart adaptive solutions can be deployed in critical applications, authentication and authorization mechanisms are needed to provide protection against various security threats. These mechanisms must be able to interoperate and share information with different devices. The thesis focuses to questions on how to facilitate the interoperability of authentication and authorization solutions and how to enable adaptability and smartness of these solutions. To address questions, this thesis explores existing authentication and authorizations solutions. Then the thesis builds new reusable, interoperable, and adaptive security solutions. The smart space concept, based on semantic web technologies and publish-and-subscribe architecture, is recognized as a prominent approach for interoperability. We contribute by proposing solutions, which facilitate implementation of smart access control applications. An essential enabler for smart spaces is a secure platform for information sharing. This platform can be based on various security protocols and frameworks, providing diverse security levels. We survey security-levels and feasibility of some key establishment protocols and solutions for authentication and authorization. We also study ecosystem and adaptation issues as well as design and implement a fine-grained and context-based reusable security model, which enables development of self-configuring and adaptive authorization solutions.Ympäristöt, joissa elämme, ovat täynnä erilaisia verkkolaitteita. Nämä koteihin, toimistoihin, julkisiin tiloihin ja ajoneuvoihin muodostuvat ympäristöt ovat oppimassa hyödyntämään ympäriltä saatavilla olevaa tietoa ja sopeuttamaan toimintaansa parantaakseen käyttäjän kokemusta näistä ympäristössä. Älykkäiden ja sopeutuvien tilojen käyttöönotto kriittisissä sovelluksissa vaatii kuitenkin tunnistautumis- ja käyttöoikeuksien hallintamenetelmiä tietoturvauhkien torjumiseksi. Näiden menetelmien pitää pystyä yhteistoimintaan ja mahdollistaa tiedonvaihto erilaisten laitteiden kanssa. Tämä lisensiaatin tutkimus keskittyy kysymyksiin, kuinka helpottaa tunnistautumis- ja käyttöoikeusratkaisujen yhteensopivuutta ja kuinka mahdollistaa näiden ratkaisujen sopeutumiskyky ja älykäs toiminta. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan olemassa olevia menetelmiä. Tämän jälkeen kuvataan toteutuksia uusista tietoturvaratkaisuista, jotka ovat uudelleenkäytettäviä, eri laitteiden kanssa yhteensopivia ja eri vaatimuksiin mukautuvia. Älytilat, jotka perustuvat semanttisten web teknologioiden ja julkaise-ja-tilaa arkkitehtuurin hyödyntämiseen, tunnistetaan työssä lupaavaksi yhteensopivuuden tuovaksi ratkaisuksi. Tutkimus esittää ratkaisuja, jotka helpottavat älykkäiden tunnistautumis- ja käyttöoikeuksien hallintaratkaisujen kehitystä. Oleellinen yhteensopivuuden mahdollistaja on tietoturvallinen yhteensopivuusalusta. Tämä alusta voi perustua erilaisiin avaintenhallinta ja tunnistautumisprotokolliin sekä käyttöoikeuksien hallintakehyksiin. Tutkimuksessa arvioidaan joidenkin olemassa olevien ratkaisujen käytettävyyttä ja tietoturvatasoa. Tutkimuksessa myös tutkitaan ekosysteemi- ja sopeutumiskysymyksiä sekä toteutetaan hienojakoinen ja kontekstiin perustuva uudelleen käytettävä tietoturvamalli, joka mahdollistaa itsesääntyvien ja mukautuvien käyttöoikeuksien hallinta sovellusten toteuttamisen

Access control to support security-minded sharing of information

In an increasingly interconnected and automated world, we are dependent on the flow of information between people, organisations, and systems. An appropriate and proportionate control of access to information is essential for the safety and security of individuals, society, and nation states. Significant harm can arise from unauthorised access to, or modification of, information, and in some cases the inability to obtain access when required. The paper reviews current access control models and identifies shortcomings in respect of an increased need for information sharing. It considers the concept of entitlement to information, and the role of rights and obligations. Management of access to information in complex sharing situations is also discussed. The paper identifies several areas where further work is required to facilitate development of more sophisticated access control mechanisms that could better support current and future needs