Access Control in Cyber-Physical Spaces Using Virtual Perimeters

Abstract

In recent years, physical access control systems have not developed to the same extent as their cyber counterparts. Cyber access control prevents unwarranted access to sensitive information. When a cyber document is displayed on a monitor, it loses its cyber protection as a passer-by can view the document on the monitor. A disparity thus exists between the level of security provided to a document in the cyber compared to the physical realm. Physically rendered documents can be better protected by establishing dynamic security perimeters, called virtual perimeters, around them in the physical realm. Indoor positioning systems can be used to dynamically locate people to determine if they violate the virtual perimeter around an object. When an event such as someone crossing the virtual perimeter occurs, access control can be performed. This research proposes a dynamic, event-driven, access control framework to provide security and privacy in physical spaces using virtual perimeters and camera-based indoor positioning systems. The Virtual Perimeter Access Control framework aims to prevent physical access to objects by monitoring the locations of entities within the space and prompting access control to be performed once a virtual perimeter is violated.