

Security requirements in distributed software systems are inherently dynamic. In the case of authorization policies, resources are meant to be accessed only by authorized parties, but the authorization to access a resource may be dynamically granted/yielded. We describe ongoing work on a model for specifying communication and dynamic authorization handling. We build upon the π-calculus so as to enrich communication-based systems with authorization specification and delegation; here authorizations regard channel usage and delegation refers to the act of yielding an authorization to another party. Our model includes: (i) a novel scoping construct for authorization, which allows to specify authorization boundaries, and (ii) communication primitives for authorizations, which allow to pass around authorizations to act on a given channel. An authorization error may consist in, e.g., performing an action along a name which is not under an appropriate authorization scope. We introduce a typing discipline that ensures that processes never reduce to authorization errors, even when authorizations are dynamically delegated. © Ghilezan, Jakšić, Pantović, Pérez, Vieira.
| Engineering controlled terms: | Calculations |
|---|---|
| Engineering uncontrolled terms | Authorization policyChannel usagesCommunication primitivesCommunication-based systemsDistributed software systemPi calculusScopingSecurity requirements |
| Engineering main heading: | Computer programming languages |
| Funding sponsor | Funding number | Acronym |
|---|---|---|
| European Cooperation in Science and Technology | COST | |
| Universidade Nova de Lisboa | UNL | |
| NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics | NOVA LINCS |
We thank the anonymous referees for their insightful and useful remarks. This work was supported by COST Action IC1201: Behavioural Types for Reliable Large-Scale Software Systems (BETTY) via Short-Term Scientific Mission grants (to Pantović and Vieira). Pérez is also affiliated to the NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics (NOVA LINCS), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.
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