Access Control Architecture Research Articles

Adaptive Cybersecurity in the Digital Age: Emerging Threat Vectors and Next-Generation Defense Strategies

Abstract: This article examines the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity, focusing on emerging threats and innovative defense mechanisms. We analyze four key threat vectors: Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), ransomware, Internet of Things (IoT) vulnerabilities, and social engineering attacks. These threats pose significant risks to organizations, including data breaches, financial losses, and operational disruptions. In response, we explore cutting-edge defense mechanisms such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for threat detection, Zero Trust Architecture for access control, blockchain for data integrity, behavioral analytics for insider threat detection, and quantum cryptography for enhanced encryption. The article also outlines best practices for cybersecurity, including regular software updates, strong password policies, employee training, and security audits. By synthesizing current research and industry trends, this article provides a comprehensive overview of the cybersecurity landscape, emphasizing the need for continuous adaptation and vigilance in the face of evolving cyber threats

Trusted access control mechanism for data with blockchain-assisted attribute encryption

In the growing demand for data sharing, how to realize fine-grained trusted access control of shared data and protect data security has become a difficult problem. Ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) model is widely used in cloud data sharing scenarios, but there are problems such as privacy leakage of access policy, irrevocability of user or attribute, key escrow, and trust bottleneck. Therefore, we propose a blockchain-assisted CP-ABE (B-CP-ABE) mechanism for trusted data access control. Firstly, we construct a data trusted access control architecture based on the B-CP-ABE, which realizes the automated execution of access policies through smart contracts and guarantees the trusted access process through blockchain. Then, we define the B-CP-ABE scheme, which has the functions of policy partial hidden, attribute revocation, and anti-key escrow. The B-CP-ABE scheme utilizes Bloom filter to hide the mapping relationship of sensitive attributes in the access structure, realizes flexible revocation and recovery of users and attributes by re-encryption algorithm, and solves the key escrow problem by joint authorization of data owners and attribute authority. Finally, we demonstrate the usability of the B-CP-ABE scheme by performing security analysis and performance analysis.

Blockchain-based access control architecture for multi-domain environments

Numerous users from diverse domains access information and perform various operations in multi-domain environments. These users have complex permissions that increase the risk of identity falsification, unauthorized access, and privacy breaches during cross-domain interactions. Consequently, implementing an access control architecture to prevent users from engaging in illicit activities is imperative. This paper proposes a novel blockchain-based access control architecture for multi-domain environments. By integrating the multi-domain environment within a federated chain, the architecture utilizes Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) for user identification and relies on public/secret key pairs for operational execution. Verifiable credentials are used to authorize permissions and release resources, thereby ensuring authentication and preventing tampering and forgery. In addition, the architecture automates the authorization and access control processes through smart contracts, thereby eliminating human intervention. Finally, we performed a simulation evaluation of the architecture. The most time-consuming process had a runtime of 1074 ms, primarily attributed to interactions with the blockchain. Concurrent testing revealed that with a concurrency level of 2000 demonstrated that the response times for read and write operations were maintained within 1000 ms and 4600 ms, respectively. In terms of storage efficiency, except for user registration, which incurred two gas charges, all the other processes required only one charge.

Blockchain-Based Access Control Architecture for Enhancing Authorized E-Healthcare Data Sharing Services in Industry 5.0

Blockchain-Based Access Control Architecture for Enhancing Authorized E-Healthcare Data Sharing Services in Industry 5.0

Massive Data Connection Architecture Design of Web Platform Based on Blockchain

In order to improve the universality and security of the data management of the Internet of Things and avoid the single point of failure problem in the traditional management architecture, this paper proposes a massive connection management architecture based on blockchain. The blockchain is reconstructed according to the hierarchical structure of blockchain technology, and with reference to the attribute-based access control mechanism, a data exchange model is designed using gossip mode and TLS networking mode to ensure the safe transmission of data. The peer computer network technology, data signature, and consensus mechanism are used to complete the design of the data exchange network layer and realize the design of the blockchain-based massive connection management architecture, so as to effectively avoid the single point of failure problem in the traditional management architecture and greatly reduce the burden of the management center. The access requests of massive devices in 5G application scenarios were simulated, and the results showed that the blockchain-based access control architecture designed in this article can quickly process received requests, with information leakage below 10%, improving the security and processing performance of data connections, achieving efficient processing and management of large-scale data, and providing reliable guarantees for the development of the Internet era.

Enhanced Authentication for Decentralized IoT Access Control Architecture

The internet of things (IoT) enables a hyperconnected society, offering intelligent services and convenience through various connections between people, objects, and services. However, the current state of the IoT still faces limitations in security. Security issues in the IoT are of significant concern, leading to the proposal of numerous security frameworks and solutions to address these challenges. Authentication and authorization are crucial security requirements in the IoT environment, considering the potential risks posed by inadequate authentication and incorrect authorization. To comprehensively mitigate these issues, we presents a novel IoT access control architecture in this paper. The proposed architecture leverages the OAuth framework for authorization and the decentralized identity technology to enhance the authentication and authorization processes.

Security architecture for authorized anonymous communication in 5G MEC

The use of services provided in modern mobile networks using edge servers (5G MEC) requires extended security solutions. One of them is an access control system adapted to the different needs and requirements of end users and service providers. Another, equally important, is the protection against the takeover of the service during its lifetime, which leads to the inevitable leakage of information and economic losses. In this paper, we present a new access control architecture for the 5G MEC network, which meets both security requirements in a flexible and lightweight way. First, we specify the architecture scheme and its central element, MEC Enabler, which manages access control security policies and generates access credentials (tokens). Next, we describe the method of securing data packets in the communication process related to the service provided by the MEC server, preventing the session from being intercepted by an unauthorized user. The countermeasure is designed to protect data identifying packets (node addresses, port numbers) and prevent identification of packets’ connection with the protected service. Experiments on the operation of the service with the implemented protection mechanism made in a testbed show that the proposed security solution has a negligible effect on the MEC-hosted application delays.

UML design for access control architecture in smart building application

SummaryCyber physical systems are complex systems to build and implement, electronic devices and concepts such as the energy saving, the user comfort and the privacy of sensitive data. In the physical world, buildings represent a major part of total energy consumption, that's why improving the energy efficiency levels of buildings is topical by which the emergence of smart buildings. Since, even if efforts are being made in normalizing the process of energy saving management while maintaining a high level of users' comfort, managing the access control in smart buildings systems remains an ad‐hoc process. This is why a number of researches focus on the design and implementation of solutions aimed at covering the process of access control management. In the context of developing a smart building application, already developed in our laboratory, we have set up an access control management system to manage users' access. We present the design of an access control architecture, using the Unified Modeling Language, upon the smart building application which is the subject of a maintenance work. The designed solution is implemented with the purpose of evolving the application to be used by multiple users. The implemented access control solution is an extended role‐based access control model.

Smart Contract-Enabled Secure Sharing of Health Data for a Mobile Cloud-Based E-Health System

Healthcare comprises the largest revenue and data boom markets. Sharing knowledge about healthcare is crucial for research that can help healthcare providers and patients. Several cloud-based applications have been suggested for data sharing in healthcare. However, the trustworthiness of third-party cloud providers remains unclear. The third-party dependency problem was resolved using blockchain technology. The primary objective of this growth was to replace the distributed system with a centralized one. Therefore, security is a critical requirement for protecting health records. Efforts have been made to implement blockchain technology to improve the security of this sensitive material. However, existing methods depend primarily on information obtained from medical examinations. Furthermore, they are ineffective for sharing continuously produced data streams from sensors and other monitoring devices. We propose a trustworthy access control system that uses smart contracts to achieve greater security while sharing electronic health records among various patients and healthcare providers. Our concept offers an active resolution for secure data sharing in mobility computing while protecting personal health information from potential risks. In assessing existing data sharing models, the framework valuation and protection approach recognizes increases in the practicality of lightweight access control architecture, low network expectancy, and significant levels of security and data concealment.

Construction of system friendly attribute based fully distributed access control architecture for e-healthcare

Construction of system friendly attribute based fully distributed access control architecture for e-healthcare

Blockchain-Based Service-Oriented Architecture for Consent Management, Access Control, and Auditing

Continuity of care requires the exchange of health information among organizations and care teams. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes that subject of care should give explicit consent to the treatment of her personal data, and organizations must obey the individual’s will. Nevertheless, few solutions focus on guaranteeing the proper execution of consents. We propose a service-oriented architecture, backed by blockchain technology, that enables: (1) tamper-proof and immutable storage of subject of care consents; (2) a fine-grained access control for protecting health data according to consents; and (3) auditing tasks for supervisory authorities (or subjects of care themselves) to assess that healthcare organizations comply with GDPR and granted consents. Standards for health information exchange and access control are adopted to guarantee interoperability. Access control events and the subject of care consents are maintained on a blockchain, providing a trusted collaboration between organizations, supervisory authorities, and individuals. A prototype of the architecture has been implemented as a proof of concept to evaluate the performance of critical components. The application of subject of care consent to control the treatment of personal health data in federated and distributed environments is a pressing concern. The experimental results show that blockchain can effectively support sharing consent and audit events among healthcare organizations, supervisory authorities, and individuals.

Smart contract token-based privacy-preserving access control system for industrial Internet of Things

Due to mobile Internet technology's rapid popularization, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. While IIoT brings us much convenience, a series of security and scalability issues related to permission operations rise to the surface during device communications. Hence, at present, a reliable and dynamic access control management system for IIoT is in urgent need. Up till now, numerous access control architectures have been proposed for IIoT. However, owing to centralized models and heterogeneous devices, security and scalability requirements still cannot be met. In this paper, we offer a smart contract token-based solution for decentralized access control in IIoT systems. Specifically, there are three smart contracts in our system, including the Token Issue Contract (TIC), User Register Contract (URC), and Manage Contract (MC). These three contracts collaboratively supervise and manage various events in IIoT environments. We also utilize the lightweight and post-quantum encryption algorithm-Nth-degree Truncated Polynomial Ring Units (NTRU) to preserve user privacy during the registration process. Subsequently, to evaluate our proposed architecture's performance, we build a prototype platform that connects to the local blockchain. Finally, experiment results show that our scheme has achieved secure and dynamic access control for the IIoT system compared with related research.

Blockchain-driven authorized data access mechanism for digital healthcare

The existing traditional medical database system is a centralized system in which data manipulation is easy, privacy is critical, and there is a lack of easy information exchange and adequate data management. Although blockchain mechanisms have the potential to use and easily maintained on the distributed medical architecture around the globe to address the bottleneck situation. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based authenticated access control framework. We use blockchain technology to defend patients’ rights to licensed medical material distribution systems. The proposed mechanism’s security has been demonstrated against adversary. The analysis of performance and comparative study is also performed, which shows that it is a reliable authenticated access control architecture for e-healthcare in terms of efficiency and security.

Footsteps in the fog: Certificateless fog-based access control

The proliferating adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm has fuelled the need for more efficient and resilient access control solutions that aim to prevent unauthorized resource access. The majority of existing works in this field follow either a centralized approach (i.e. cloud-based) or an architecture where the IoT devices are responsible for all decision-making functions. Furthermore, the resource-constrained nature of most IoT devices make securing the communication between these devices and the cloud using standard cryptographic solutions difficult. In this paper, we propose a distributed access control architecture where the core components are distributed between fog nodes and the cloud. To facilitate secure communication, our architecture utilizes a Certificateless Hybrid Signcryption scheme without pairing. We prove the effectiveness of our approach by providing a comparative analysis of its performance in comparison to the commonly used cloud-based centralized architectures. Our implementation uses Azure – an existing commercial platform, and Keycloak – an open-source platform, to demonstrate the real-world applicability. Additionally, we measure the performance of the adopted encryption scheme on two types of resource-constrained devices to further emphasize the applicability of the proposed architecture. Finally, the experimental results are coupled with a theoretical analysis that proves the security of our approach.

Blockchain Technology-Based Electronic Payment Strategy for City Mobile Pass Cards

Currently, there has been a paradigm shifted in the storing of electronic payment records (EPRs) on mobile distributed systems, wherein mobile devices are coupled with cloud computing to ease financial data transfers between consumers and stakeholders. This enhanced architecture allows low-cost online payment services with high versatility and EPR accessibility. Nevertheless, for e-payment platforms, such a new paradigm poses worries about data privacy and network security. A difficult challenge is how to reliably disseminate EPRs across mobile users while maintaining high-security security standards in the mobile cloud. This paper investigates and demonstrates the electronic payment approach of urban mobile pass cards’ dependability and excellence. Furthermore, on a mobile cloud platform, our technology integrates blockchain with the decentralized interplanetary file system (IPFS). We specifically create a reliable access control method on smart contracts to ensure secure EPR sharing across various clients and stakeholders. Our empirical results indicate that our concept provides a viable solution for data transfers on mobile clouds while protecting critical payment information from potential attacks. When compared to previous data sharing models, the system evaluation and security analysis show performance gains in lightweight access control architecture, minimal network latency with excellent security and data confidentiality levels.

A revocable multi-authority fine-grained access control architecture against ciphertext rollback attack for mobile edge computing

Mobile edge computing is an emerging decentralized cloud paradigm that can provide real-time mobile services for users. But there are some limitations in the existing access control architectures for mobile edge computing, such as low efficiency, poor expansibility and high algorithm complexity. Therefore in this paper, we propose a decentralized ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption scheme which with mutually verifiable outsourced decryption and non-delegated computing mode attribute revocation as the fine-grained access control model for the mobile edge cloud. Compared with the state-of-art access control models with revocation function, first, our scheme is based on Type-3 pairing, which has higher efficiency and stronger security. Second, our outsourcing decryption algorithm can realize mutual verification, that is, not only the server can verify the validity of the user’s outsourcing key, but also the user can verify the correctness of the decrypted plaintext. Thirdly, our revocation algorithm can not only resist ciphertext rollback attacks to achieve the genuine backward and forward security, but also does not need the assistance of any intermediate proxy server, which greatly simplifies the network topology.

Multimedia Automation Access Control of Big Data Open Resources Based on Blockchain.

In order to better mine the value of data, the author proposes a research on the automatic access control of big data open resources multimedia based on blockchain and introduces big data access control BBAC-BD (blockchain-based access control mechanism for big data environment). The author designed a strategy management contract based on the Bloom filter, as a probabilistic data structure with extremely high space utilization efficiency and proposed the strategic management contract (PAP CONTRACT) and the strategic decision contract (PDP CONTRACT). In this way, the nontampering, auditability, and verifiability of the access control information are guaranteed; then, the access control method based on smart contracts is adopted to realize the user-driven, whole-process transparent, and dynamic and automatic access control of big data resources. The simulation results show that the greater the ratio of n/k, the better the optimization effect, and the greater the ratio, the lower the corresponding misjudgment rate, but it will also take up more space costs. At the same time, the true value of the false positive rate is generally less than the theoretical value of the false positive rate. When the performance of Hash (strategy to retrieve) is better, the result of Hash distribution is more uniform. Under the condition of m = 3, the misjudgment rate acceptable for the expected use can be achieved, and the increase in the number of Hashes will not bring a significant increase in revenue. Freed from the traditional model of providing access control services based on third parties, solve the problem of transparency of authority judgments; at the same time, through smart contracts, based on the strategy published by the resource owner on the blockchain, realize automatic access control to big data resources; and make the judicial process more flexible and the judgment result more credible. The BBAC-BD mechanism realizes a safe, reliable, and transparent new access control architecture, and it can effectively promote the safe circulation and sharing of big data.

Autonomous navigation system based on a dynamic access control architecture for the internet of vehicles

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) ability to monitor the surrounding environment promotes autonomous activities like determining a trajectory and responding accordingly. Security and transportation are vital components of today's technology-driven society. In addition to search and rescue, it may also be used for planetary exploration and material management. So, the Internet of Vehicles must drive independently in various dynamic situations. Unlocking the potential of the IoV navigation process, a dynamic access control architecture-based autonomous navigation system is proposed. It can perform assigned tasks while also reacting quickly to unexpected situations. The efficiency of AI-based IoV navigation is compared and studied using autonomous decision control systems.

Research on Distributed Dynamic Trusted Access Control Based on Security Subsystem

The flow of data across nodes has become the dominant feature of data sharing in distributed environments with increasingly blurred boundaries, where it is crucial to maintain data access dynamic, trusted, and efficient. However, traditional centralized access control models are not only difficult to apply in distributed environments but also ignore trusted verification of authorized entities. What’s worse, existing access control models rarely consider themselves security, lack independence, at a high risk of being bypassed or tampered with. Thus, we propose in this paper a distributed, dynamic, and trusted access control model, DDTAC-BSS, where the standard Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) architecture is modified and extended. To reduce the attack surface, we separate policy enforcement point (PEP) from other core components, they are located in the node system and access control system, respectively. Then, the access control entry point (ACEP) is added as the only interface for the node system to interact with the access control system. Subsequently, the model introduces the entity trusted assessment mechanism to improve the trustworthiness of access control services. Driven by the dynamic attributes, our model can achieve dynamic trusted authorization and fine-grained access control. Moreover, we implement a lightweight, independent, and distributed security subsystem to achieve unified management of policies and decision-making autonomy by message-driven. By considering the independence of the security subsystem, a trusted operating environment is built based on Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) to ensure the security of the access control mechanism itself. The security of our model is proved rigorously based on the non-interference theory. Comprehensive experiments and comparisons have demonstrated the superior functionality, comparable performance, and strong security of our model.

A Distributed Fog-based Access Control Architecture for IoT

A Distributed Fog-based Access Control Architecture for IoT