Context-based Access Control Research Articles

Android Mobile Devices Context Based Access Control Systems

The Mobile applications designed for Android frequently have access to private information and resources stored on the user's device. The improper use of this data by malicious programs has the potential to result in breaches of privacy as well as the disclosure of sensitive data. An example of this would be a malicious application capturing a confidential business chat in the background without the user's knowledge. The issue is caused by the fact that Android users do not have control over the capabilities of programs once those applications have been granted the desired access during installation. This is what causes the problem. It is necessary for us to have a context-based access control mechanism so that privileges can be dynamically provided or revoked to applications based on the specific context of the user. This is because there are numerous situations in which the possibility that an application will be allowed a privilege is contingent on the specific context of the user. In this article, we suggest an access control system along these lines. Our implementation of context distinguishes between subareas that are geographically adjacent to one another within the same location. We have made certain changes to the Android operating system in order to enable context-based access control limitations, which can then be set and implemented. We have carried out a number of tests in order to evaluate both the efficacy of our access control mechanism and the precision of context recognition.

Comparing Context Based Access Control to Zone-based Policy Firewalls

Abstract: This paper will be introducing a comparative study on the choices between two best classical software firewalls one is Context Based Access Control (CBAC) and Zone Based firewall (ZBF). Both of them may deliver a stateful inspection of TCP, UDP and/or ICMP control packets. Through this study, two type of networks were designed one used the CBAC firewall and the other works with a zone based firewall. The result obtained showed that ZBF has several feature which are not available in CBAC. Furthermore, ZBF deals with the security zones the traffic will be dynamically inspected as it passes through the zone. In order to monitor the network, GNS3 and Wirshrah tools has been used to configure the required network. Then we have used different scenarios to inspect and evaluate the behavior of the network. In this study firewalls were implemented in software not in hardware as separate devices. That is, they are building functions of the routers. In our project, two networks were designed The first one has two areas LAN and WAN, while the second contains three areas LAN, WAN and DMZ. Key Words: CBAC; ZBF; GNS3; Wirshark; TELNET; SSH; HTTP; Ping.

Access control for secure information sharing in smart content spaces

Sophisticated mobile devices are becoming more compact, powerful and cheap to produce, leading to the implementation of smart applications that enable users to create and share large amounts of data on the go. Services such as Wi-Fi Direct support device-to-device communication, enabling peer-to-peer networks called smart spaces that support the sharing of information and resources between peers. In line with current research on personalization of the security of smart spaces, this paper introduces the concept of a proximity-based local personal smart space (LPSS) that presents new security challenges such as secure content sharing. An evaluation of current research on access control for smart spaces highlights that personalized context-based access control can provide better control over shared content. A local personal smart space access control framework is proposed focusing on the very nature of local personal smart space environments, namely, the enforcement of access control using personal preferences of users that are defined using policies. A prototype is presented that implements the access control model. Finally, the paper is concluded with some insight into future improvements.

Access Control Policy on Mobile Operating System Frameworks –A survey

Background: Access control is the method of granting permissions according to policies. Mobile devices, such as Smartphone, are acting as multi-purpose devices for private as well as the corporate environment. Since the applications in the Smartphone are accessing in various contexts, there would be a leakage of data and applications. Furthermore, when third party apps are downloading on Android-based platforms, it causes threats to the existing system applications. So, different access control policies have been implemented in the Android-based Smartphone to separate the own application and corporate application for providing security. Methods: This paper presents a survey of access control models in various frameworks and compares them by their performance evaluations. The performance of each framework is corresponding to the characteristics of access control policies. These access controls are categorizing according to role, discretionary, mandatory, context, and attributes. Finding: We have found that, Context-Based Access Control (CBAC) and Dynamic Role Based Access Control (DRBAC) are providing better performance. Hence, to give robust security for mobile operating systems the hybrid access policies can be considered. Applications: This hybrid approach might provide a good Android security framework with acceptable performance.

CBDAC: Context-Based Dynamic Access Control Model Using Intuitive 5W1H for Ubiquitous Sensor Network

Currently, access control is facing many issues for information protection in the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) environment. In particular, dynamic access control is a central problem where context always changes because of volatile ubiquitous sensors. The use of context is important in USN. In this paper, we focus on the context-driven privacy protection model. In context-based access control research, the access permission technique that uses context is being intensely investigated because of the ease with which various dynamic access permissions can be assigned in accordance with the various changes in context. A key feature of this approach is dynamic access control. Therefore, we propose a model for privacy preservation that is context-based dynamic access control that uses intuitive 5W1H for USN. According to this model, the access control strategy can be determined dynamically based on context elements and subject attributes, in addition to objects and operations, using access control entities; therefore, it is relatively easy to infer the dynamic access control of context expressivity both accurately and efficiently.

Context-Based Access Control Systems for Mobile Devices

Mobile Android applications often have access to sensitive data and resources on the user device. Misuse of this data by malicious applications may result in privacy breaches and sensitive data leakage. An example would be a malicious application surreptitiously recording a confidential business conversation. The problem arises from the fact that Android users do not have control over the application capabilities once the applications have been granted the requested privileges upon installation. In many cases, however, whether an application may get a privilege depends on the specific user context and thus we need a context-based access control mechanism by which privileges can be dynamically granted or revoked to applications based on the specific context of the user. In this paper we propose such an access control mechanism. Our implementation of context differentiates between closely located sub-areas within the same location. We have modified the Android operating system so that context-based access control restrictions can be specified and enforced. We have performed several experiments to assess the efficiency of our access control mechanism and the accuracy of context detection.

Managing Context Based Access Control Systems for Mobile Devices

Managing Context Based Access Control Systems for Mobile Devices

A Semantic-Aware Context-Based Access Control Framework for Mobile Web Services

As computing technology becomes more pervasive and mobile services are deployed, applications will need flexible access control mechanisms. Unlike traditional approaches based on the identity/role for access control, access decisions for these applications will depend on the combination of the required attributes of users and the contextual information. This paper proposes a semantic-aware context-based access control framework (called SA_CBAC) to be applied in mobile web services environment by combining semantic web technologies with context-based access control mechanism. In order to handle context information in the framework, this paper proposes a context ontology to represent contextual information and employ it in the inference engine. This paper also focuses on access control policies and addresses these issues by representing context, user attributes and resource attributes in knowledge base and extending XACML to incorporate the knowledge base.

ACTkit: A Framework for the Definition and Enforcement of Role, Content and Context-based Access Control Policies

This work describes a framework, called ACTkit, for the definition and enforcement of dynamic access control policies on (multi-tiered) information systems. ACTkit embodies a language for defining security policies built out of role-, context- and content-based access control rules and an access control module responsible for the policy enforcement. A model, which has been defined as an extension of Hierarchical RBAC to provide a precise semantics for the security policies, is also presented and discussed.

A Generative Programming Framework for Context-Aware CSCW Applications

We present a programming framework based on the paradigm of generative application development for building context-aware collaborative applications. In this approach, context-aware applications are implemented using a domain-specific design model, and their execution environment is generated and maintained by the middleware. The key features of this design model include support for context-based service discovery and binding, context-based access control, context-based multiuser coordination, and context-triggered automated task executions. The middleware uses the technique of policy-based specialization for generating application-specific middleware components from the generic middleware components. Through a case-study example, we demonstrate this approach and present the evaluations of the design model and the middleware.

A Semantic Context-Based Model for MobileWeb Services Access Control

As mobile web services becomes more pervasive, applications based on mobile web services will need flexible access control mechanisms. Unlike traditional approaches based on the identity or role for access control, access decisions for these applications will depend on the combination of the required attributes of users and the contextual information. This paper proposes a semantic context-based access control model (called SCBAC) to be applied in mobile web services environment by combining semantic web technologies with context-based access control mechanism. The proposed model is a context-centric access control solutions, context is the first-class principle that explicitly guides both policy specification and enforcement process. In order to handle context information in the model, this paper proposes a context ontology to represent contextual information and employ it in the inference engine. As well as, this paper specifies access control policies as rules over ontologies representing the concepts introduced in the SCBAC model, and uses semantic web rule language (SWRL) to form policy rule and infer those rules by JESS inference engine. The proposed model can also be applied to context-aware applications. Index Terms—mobile web services, context-based access control, ontology technology, OWL, SWRL

A programming environment for ubiquitous computing environment

The goal of this research is to provide an advanced programming environment for ubiquitous computing, which facilitates the development of secure and reliable ubiquitous software. A discussion follows on the design and implementation of a ubiquitous programming framework, which is based on high-level policy description language. A context-based access control manager(CACM) was implemented for context-aware access control, while an adaptation engine was integrated for context adaptation in dynamically changing environments. A simulator was also implemented for conducting experiments with this framework for ubiquitous applications.

Ubiquitous security for ubiquitous computing

The potential for rapid and diverse interconnectivity through devices utilising heterogeneous communications interfaces has enabled a truly ubiquitous computing environment. However, this has resulted in equally ubiquitous security risks due principally to the number and complexity of services being run over such networks. As technology advances towards the realisation of a ubiquitous computing environment, what impact does this have on the traditional information security triangle, of preserving the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information? And how does this influence, future information security requirements, particularly in light of always-on business processes which require real-time information sharing? This paper describes research conducted into answering these questions. Emphasis is placed on the need for risk management, and how this may be achieved through context-based access control mechanisms and pro-active threat assessment techniques.