Types for task-based access control in workflow systems

Advances in application areas such as Internet-based transactions, cooperating coalitions, and workflow systems have brought new challenges to access control. In order to meet the diverse needs of emerging applications, it has become necessary to support multiple access control policies in one security domain. This chapter describes an authorization framework, referred to as the Flexible Authorization Framework (FAF), which is capable of doing so. FAF is a logic-based framework in which authorizations are specified in terms of a locally stratified rule base. FAF allows permissions and prohibitions to be included in its specification. FAF specifications can be changed by deleting and inserting its rules. We also describe FAF’s latest additions, such as revoking granted permissions, provisional authorizations, and obligations.

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Location-Aware Access Control for Mobile Workflow Systems

Web Engineered Applications for Evolving Organizations ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-523-0.ch004 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 44-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Decker

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Access Control ◽

Business Processes ◽

Workflow Management ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Special Focus ◽

Wireless Data ◽

Workflow Systems ◽

Location Aware ◽

Wireless Data Transmission

Workflow management systems (WfMS) are a special class of information systems (IS) which support the automated enactment of business processes. Meanwhile there are WfMS which allow the execution of tasks using mobile computers like PDA with the ability of wireless data transmission. However, the employment of workflow systems as well as mobile technologies comes along with special security challenges. One way to tackle these challenges is the employment of location-aware access control to enforce rules that describe from which locations a user is allowed to perform which activities. The data model behind access control in termed Access Control Model (ACM). There are special ACM for mobile information systems as well as for WfMS, but no one that addresses mobile as well as workflow specific aspects. In the article we therefore discuss the specific constraints such a model should be able to express and introduce an appropriate ACM. A special focus is on location constraints for individual workflow instances.

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A Flexible Authorization Framework

Information Security and Ethics ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-937-3.ch085 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 1236-1256

Author(s):

Duminda Wijesekera ◽

Sushil Jajodia

Keyword(s):

Access Control ◽

Multiple Access ◽

Rule Base ◽

Multiple Access Control ◽

Control Policies ◽

Workflow Systems ◽

Access Control Policies ◽

New Challenges

Advances in application areas such as Internet-based transactions, cooperating coalitions, and workflow systems have brought new challenges to access control. In order to meet the diverse needs of emerging applications, it has become necessary to support multiple access control policies in one security domain. This chapter describes an authorization framework, referred to as the Flexible Authorization Framework (FAF), which is capable of doing so. FAF is a logic-based framework in which authorizations are specified in terms of a locally stratified rule base. FAF allows permissions and prohibitions to be included in its specification. FAF specifications can be changed by deleting and inserting its rules. We also describe FAF’s latest additions, such as revoking granted permissions, provisional authorizations, and obligations.

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Enforcing access control in workflow systems with a task engineering approach

International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions ◽

10.1504/ijitst.2012.045150 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 55 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hamid Hatim ◽

Hanan El Bakkali ◽

Ilham Berrada

Keyword(s):

Access Control ◽

Workflow Systems ◽

Engineering Approach

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Context-sensitive constraints for access control of business processes

Computer Science and Information Systems ◽

10.2298/csis160628037m ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 1-30

Author(s):

Gordana Milosavljevic ◽

Goran Sladic ◽

Branko Milosavljevic ◽

Miroslav Zaric ◽

Stevan Gostojic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Access Control ◽

Business Processes ◽

Workflow Management ◽

Management Systems ◽

Sensitive Information ◽

Workflow Management Systems ◽

Workflow Systems ◽

Context Sensitive ◽

The Common ◽

Role Based

Workflow management systems (WfMS) are used to automate and facilitate business processes of an enterprise. To simplify the administration, it is a common practice in many WfMS solutions to allocate a role to perform each activity of the process and then assign one or more users to each role. Typically, access control for WfMS is role-based with a support of constraints on users and roles. However, merely using role and constraints concepts can hardly satisfy modern access control requirements of a contemporary enterprise. Permissions should not solely depend on common static and dynamic principles, but they must be influenced by the context in which the access is requested. In this paper, we focus on the definition and enforcement of the context-sensitive constraints for workflow systems. We extended the common role-based constraints listed in literature with context-sensitive information and workflow specific components. Also, we propose a mechanism for enforcing such constraints within WfMS.

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Location-Aware Access Control for Mobile Workflow Systems

Wireless Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-101-6.ch602 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 1533-1552

Author(s):

Michael Decker

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Access Control ◽

Business Processes ◽

Workflow Management ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Special Focus ◽

Wireless Data ◽

Workflow Systems ◽

Location Aware ◽

Wireless Data Transmission

Workflow management systems (WfMS) are a special class of information systems (IS) which support the automated enactment of business processes. Meanwhile there are WfMS which allow the execution of tasks using mobile computers like PDA with the ability of wireless data transmission. However, the employment of workflow systems as well as mobile technologies comes along with special security challenges. One way to tackle these challenges is the employment of location-aware access control to enforce rules that describe from which locations a user is allowed to perform which activities. The data model behind access control in termed Access Control Model (ACM). There are special ACM for mobile information systems as well as for WfMS, but no one that addresses mobile as well as workflow specific aspects. In the article we therefore discuss the specific constraints such a model should be able to express and introduce an appropriate ACM. A special focus is on location constraints for individual workflow instances.

Download Full-text