Static Enforcement of Role-Based Access Control

We propose a new static approach to Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policy enforcement. The static approach we advocate includes a new design methodology, for applications involving RBAC, which integrates the security requirements into the system's architecture. We apply this new approach to policies restricting calls to methods in Java applications. We present a language to express RBAC policies on calls to methods in Java, a set of design patterns which Java programs must adhere to for the policy to be enforced statically, and a description of the checks made by our static verifier for static enforcement.Comment: In Proceedings WWV 2014, arXiv:1409.229

Distributed and typed role-based access control mechanisms driven by CRUD expressions

Business logics of relational databases applications are an important source of security violations, namely in respect to access control. The situation is particularly critical when access control policies are many and complex. In these cases, programmers of business logics can hardly master the established access control policies. Now we consider situations where business logics are built with tools such as JDBC and ODBC. These tools convey two sources of security threats: 1) the use of unauthorized Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) expressions and also 2) the modification of data previously retrieved by Select statements. To overcome this security gap when Role-based access control policies are used, we propose an extension to the basic model in order to control the two sources of security threats. Finally, we present a software architectural model from which distributed and typed RBAC mechanisms are automatically built, this way relieving programmers from mastering any security schema. We demonstrate empirical evidence of the effectiveness of our proposal from a use case based on Java and JDBC

Towards ensuring scalability, interoperability and efficient access control in a multi-domain grid-based environment

The application of grid computing has been hampered by three basic challenges: scalability, interoperability and efficient access control which need to be optimized before a full-scale adoption of grid computing can take place. To address these challenges, a novel architectural model was designed for a multi-domain grid based environment (built on three domains). It was modelled using the dynamic role-based access control. The architecture’s framework assumes that each domain has an independent local security monitoring unit and a central security monitoring unit that monitors security for the entire grid. The architecture was evaluated using the Grid Security Services Simulator, a meta-query language and Java Runtime Environment 1.7.0.5 for implementing the workflows that define the model’s task. In terms of scalability, the results show that as the number of grid nodes increases, the average turnaround time reduces, and thereby increases the number of service requesters (grid users) on the grid. Grid middleware integration across various domains as well as the appropriate handling of authentication and authorisation through a local security monitoring unit and a central security monitoring unit proved that the architecture is interoperable. Finally, a case study scenario used for access control across the domains shows the efficiency of the role based access control approach used for achieving appropriate access to resources. Based on the results obtained, the proposed framework has proved to be interoperable, scalable and efficiently suitable for enforcing access control within the parameters evaluated.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Extending RBAC model to control sequences of CRUD expressions

In database applications, access control is aimed at requests are mainly formalized by Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD)expressions. The supervision process can be formalized at a high level, such as based on the RBAC model, but in the end the relevant aspect is the data being accessed through each CRUD expression. In critical database applications access control can be enforced not on a CRUD by CRUD basis but enforced at the level of sequences of CRUD expressions (workflow). This situation can occur whenever established security policies are based on strict procedures that define step by step the actions (sequences of CRUD expressions) to be followed. Current RBAC models do not support this type of security policies. To overcome this security gap, we leverage previous researches to propose an extension to the RBAC model to control for each role which sequences of CRUD expressions are authorized. We demonstrate empirical evidence of the effectiveness of our proposal from a use case based on Java and JDBC. Our use case is based on typed security layers built from a software architectural model and also from metadata based on the proposed RBAC model extension

Role-based access control mechanisms: distributed, statically implemented and driven by CRUD expressions

Most of the security threats in relational database applications have their source in client-side systems when they issue requests formalized by Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) expressions. If tools such as ODBC and JDBC are used to develop business logics, then there is another source of threats. In some situations the content of data sets retrieved by Select expressions can be modified and then committed into the host databases. These tools are agnostic regarding not only database schemas but also regarding the established access control policies. This situation can hardly be mastered by programmers of business logics in database applications with many and complex access control policies. To overcome this gap, we extend the basic Role-Based Access policy to support and supervise the two sources of security threats. This extension is then used to design the correspondent RBAC model. Finally, we present a software architectural model from which static RBAC mechanisms are automatically built, this way relieving programmers from mastering any schema. We demonstrate empirical evidence of the effectiveness of our proposal from a use case based on Java and JDBC

Towards ensuring scalability, interoperability and efficient access control in a triple-domain grid-based environment

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe high rate of grid computing adoption, both in academe and industry, has posed challenges regarding efficient access control, interoperability and scalability. Although several methods have been proposed to address these grid computing challenges, none has proven to be completely efficient and dependable. To tackle these challenges, a novel access control architecture framework, a triple-domain grid-based environment, modelled on role based access control, was developed. The architecture’s framework assumes three domains, each domain with an independent Local Security Monitoring Unit and a Central Security Monitoring Unit that monitors security for the entire grid.The architecture was evaluated and implemented using the G3S, grid security services simulator, meta-query language as “cross-domain” queries and Java Runtime Environment 1.7.0.5 for implementing the workflows that define the model’s task. The simulation results show that the developed architecture is reliable and efficient if measured against the observed parameters and entities. This proposed framework for access control also proved to be interoperable and scalable within the parameters tested

The PERMIS X.509 Based Privilege Management Infrastructure

This document describes the PERMIS X.509 Based Privilege Management Infrastructure, which is a trust management system as described in RFC 2704 [2]. The PERMIS Infrastructure is compared with the AAA Authorisation Framework described in RFC 2904 [4], and is shown to be compatible with it

Towards Model-Driven Development of Access Control Policies for Web Applications

We introduce a UML-based notation for graphically modeling systems’ security aspects in a simple and intuitive way and a model-driven process that transforms graphical specifications of access control policies in XACML. These XACML policies are then translated in FACPL, a policy language with a formal semantics, and the resulting policies are evaluated by means of a Java-based software tool