An access control model with high security for distributed workflow and real-time application

Chapter 23 - Policies, Access Control, and Formal Methods

With the increasingly strict requirement for computer system security, access control models have become more complex. Existing models, such as discretionary access control (DAC) model, mandatory access control (MAC) model, role based access control (RBAC) model, and attribute based access control (ABAC) model, all have advantages and disadvantages regarding practicability and security. In addition, there is an inherent security risk in these access control models. The models merely control the access permission, but ignore the verification for the identity credibility of the entities involved in the access. With the proposal of trusted computing and the application of trusted platform, it is possible to implement, on stand-alone computers, the verification of identity credibility for the entities involved in the access. In this paper, we analyze the authorization and access decision policy of the RBAC model and the ABAC model. The characteristics of the trusted computing, which can ensure the identity credibility of the entities involved in the access, is also considered. Based on the above analysis, we establish a trusted computing based enhanced access control (TCBEAC) model, which can be deployed on stand-alone computers for common users.

Access control is an important protection mechanism for information system. Access control enforces subjects access restrictions to objects. Legitimate users should be allowed to access objects and illegitimate users should be detained from accessing objects. Access control between multi-user and multi-object is the key technique in security management of workflow management systems (WfMS), and the mechanism of the role-based authorization and access control is an effective way to solve the problem. This paper designs a set of practical constraint mechanism of role-based access control for WfMS. After introducing authorization constraint mechanism, a new model of role-based access control, RBACWF, is proposed. The role assignment algorithm, role-assign(tasknumber, pre_ass) , is also given as a key technique in this model. After this, an application example is given to explain the execution of the algorithm. Finally, a practical WfMS based on above designs is supplied. The practice in the system’s design and execution has proved that the authorization mechanism is flexible, the performance of the access security is improved greatly, and it also simplifies the task complexity of security administrator.

In recent years, the access control technology has been researched widely in workflow system, two typical technologies of that are RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) and TBAC (Task-Based Access Control) model, which has been successfully used in the role authorizing and assigning in a certain extent. However, during the process of complicating a system's structure, these two types of technology can not be used in minimizing privileges and separating duties, and they are inapplicable when users have a request of frequently changing on the workflow's process. In order to avoid having these weakness during the applying, a variable flow dynamic role_task_view (briefly as DRTVBAC) of fine-grained access control model is constructed on the basis existed model. During the process of this model applying, an algorithm is constructed to solve users' requirements of application and security needs on fine-grained principle of privileges minimum and principle of dynamic separation of duties. The DRTVBAC model is implemented in the actual system, the figure shows that the task associated with the dynamic management of role and the role assignment is more flexible on authority and recovery, it can be met the principle of least privilege on the role implement of a specific task permission activated; separated the authority from the process of the duties completing in the workflow; prevented sensitive information discovering from concise and dynamic view interface; satisfied with the requirement of the variable task-flow frequently.

The increased complexity of modern access control (AC) systems stems partly from the need to support diverse and multiple administrative domains. Systems engineering is a key technology to manage this complexity since it is capable of assuring that an operational system will adhere to the initial conceptual design and defined requirements. Specifically, the verification stage of an AC system should be based on techniques that have a sound and mathematical underpinning. Working on this assumption, model checking techniques are applied for the verification of predefined system properties, and thus, conducting a security analysis of a system. In this paper, we propose the utilization of automated and error-free model checking techniques for the verification of security properties in multi-domain AC systems. Therefore, we propose a formal definition in temporal logic of four AC system properties regarding secure inter-operation with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies in order to be verified by using model checking. For this purpose, we demonstrate the implementation of a tool chain for expressing RBAC security policies, reasoning on role hierarchies and properly feeding the model checking process. The proposed approach can be applied in any RBAC model to efficiently detect non-conformance between an AC system and its security specifications. As a proof of concept, we provide examples illustrating the verification of the defined secure inter-operation properties in multi-domain RBAC policies.

Towards more pro-active access control in computer systems and networks

The area of smart homes is one of the most popular for deploying smart connected devices. One of the most vulnerable aspects of smart homes is access control. Recent advances in IoT have led to several access control models being developed or adapted to IoT from other domains, with few specifically designed to meet the challenges of smart homes. Most of these models use role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC) models. As of now, it is not clear what the advantages and disadvantages of ABAC over RBAC are in general, and in the context of smart-home IoT in particular. In this paper, we introduce HABACα, an attribute-based access control model for smart-home IoT. We formally define HABACα and demonstrate its features through two use-case scenarios and a proof-of-concept implementation. Furthermore, we present an analysis of HABACα as compared to the previously published EGRBAC (extended generalized role-based access control) model for smart-home IoT by first describing approaches for constructing HABACα specification from EGRBAC and vice versa in order to compare the theoretical expressiveness power of these models, and second, analyzing HABACα and EGRBAC models against standard criteria for access control models. Our findings suggest that a hybrid model that combines both HABACα and EGRBAC capabilities may be the most suitable for smart-home IoT, and probably more generally.

Smart homes are interconnected homes in which a wide variety of digital devices with limited resources communicate with multiple users and among themselves using multiple protocols. The deployment of resource-limited devices and the use of a wide range of technologies expand the attack surface and position the smart home as a target for many potential security threats. Access control is among the top security challenges in smart home IoT. Several access control models have been developed or adapted for IoT in general, with a few specifically designed for the smart home IoT domain. Most of these models are built on the role-based access control (RBAC) model or the attribute-based access control (ABAC) model. However, recently some researchers demonstrated that the need arises for a hybrid model combining ABAC and RBAC, thereby incorporating the benefits of both models to better meet IoT access control challenges in general and smart homes requirements in particular. In this paper, we used two approaches to develop two different hybrid models for smart home IoT. We followed a role-centric approach and an attribute-centric approach to develop HyBAC <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{RC}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and HyBAC <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{AC}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , respectively. We formally define these models and illustrate their features through a use case scenario demonstration. We further provide a proof-of-concept implementation for each model in Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT platform. Finally, we conduct a theoretical comparison between the two models proposed in this paper in addition to the EGRBAC model (RBAC model for smart home IoT) and HABAC model (ABAC model for smart home IoT), which were previously developed to meet smart homes' challenges.

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart home environments has amplified the need for robust, scalable, and context-aware access control mechanisms. Traditional Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) models offer distinct advantages such as hierarchical simplicity and contextual granularity, respectively, yet exhibit critical limitations when deployed in isolation. To address these constraints, this study proposes and implements a discrete, hybrid RBAC–ABAC access control framework, engineered as a smart contract on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), to ensure a secure, decentralized model for managing access to IoT resources. The framework leverages blockchain’s inherent strengths cryptographic integrity, immutable message digests, and tamper-resistant audit trails to reinforce data confidentiality and policy enforcement. Validated on a real-world testbed comprising ESP32-based IoT devices, a Raspberry Pi gateway, and a blockchain backend, the proposed system demonstrates enhanced resilience and trust. Quantitative evaluations benchmark the hybrid model against standalone RBAC and ABAC mechanisms across key metrics, including gas consumption, access latency, access decision accuracy, and scalability. The results indicate the hybrid model achieves superior accuracy (97.2%) and scalability (supporting 50 concurrent users and 30 devices), with moderate gas usage (15,000 gwei) and acceptable latency (1.8 seconds). Furthermore, the use of laser-secure transaction protocols and cryptographic primitives within the smart contract enhances the protection of access rights and resource interactions. This hybrid smart contract architecture not only bridges the gap between theoretical access control models and practical blockchain deployments but also sets a foundation for adaptive, secure, and decentralized policy enforcement in next-generation smart homes, particularly in resource-constrained environments.

Access control (AC) is a computer security requirement used to control, in a computing environment, what the user can access, when and how. Policy administration is an essential feature of an AC system. As the number of computers are in hundreds of millions, and due to the different organization requirements, applications and needs, various AC models are presented in literature, such as: Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Mandatory Access Control (MAC), Role Based Access Control (RBAC), etc. These models are used to implement organizational policies that prevent the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data, protecting the data integrity, and enabling secure access and sharing of information. Each AC model has its own methods for making AC decisions and policy enforcement. However, due to the diversity of AC models and the various concerns and restrictions, its essential to find AC metamodels with higher level of abstraction. Access control metamodels serve as a unifying framework for specifying any AC policy and should ease the migration from an AC model to another. This study reviews existing works on metamodels descriptions and representations. But, are the presented metamodels sufficient to handle the needed target of controlling access especially in the presence of the current information technologies? Do they encompass all features of other AC models? In this paper we are presenting a survey on AC metamodels.

Provision for delegation of access privileges lends access control systems flexibility and context-awareness. The topic of delegation did not exist in classical computing security, but – as IT systems got more distributed and complex – provision for delegation became a necessary access-control feature, and consequently much effort has been dedicated to extend conventional access control models with delegation capability. Many such efforts have pivoted around the well-known Role-based Access Control (RBAC) model, mainly for compatibility reasons, as RBAC had already been considered the de facto industry standard – even before the need for delegation arose in enterprise information systems. However, delegation is arguably more discretionary in nature rather than role-based; especially for healthcare informatics which is the application domain for our proposed delegation framework. In this paper, we present a discretionary framework for delegation of access rights from a delegator to a delegatee by implementing a delegation-token and various stages of its life cycle in tamper-resistant devices including smartcards. The proposed framework is designed and implemented using our eTRON cybersecurity architecture which advocates use of public key cryptographic protocols for secure entity authentication, data integrity and data confidentiality.

With the advent of internet and its related technologies, the organizations are more concerned in providing security to their resources. Access control models helps in providing the access limits to the users when the resources are being accessed by them and Role based access control (RBAC) model is one such access control mechanism in which the users access the resources based on the roles they acquire in the system. In the dynamic environment, the roles that an user acquires in the system is completely depending on the context in which the user sends an access request. This paper explores the concepts of RBAC models and their extensions. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the access control models by identifying their applications and limitations in the real world applications.

A major development in the field of access control is the dominant role-based access control (RBAC) scheme. The fascination of RBAC lies in its enhanced security along with the concept of roles. In addition, attribute-based access control (ABAC) is added to the access control models, which is famous for its dynamic behavior. Separation of duty (SOD) is used for enforcing least privilege concept in RBAC and ABAC. Moreover, SOD is a powerful tool that is used to protect an organization from internal security attacks and threats. Different problems have been found in the implementation of SOD at the role level. This paper discusses that the implementation of SOD on the level of roles is not a good option. Therefore, this paper proposes a hybrid access control model to implement SOD on the basis of permissions. The first part of the proposed model is based on the addition of attributes with dynamic characteristics in the RBAC model, whereas the second part of the model implements the permission-based SOD in dynamic RBAC model. Moreover, in comparison with previous models, performance and feature analysis are performed to show the strength of dynamic RBAC model. This model improves the performance of the RBAC model in terms of time, dynamicity, and automatic permissions and roles assignment. At the same time, this model also reduces the administrator’s load and provides a flexible, dynamic, and secure access control model.

Role based access control (RBAC) is well known due to its high security and ease in management for permissions. But it also has some deficiencies like role structure complexity and having no dynamic behavior. Attribute based access control (ABAC) is a dynamic access control model that provides ease of role structuring. Analyzing roles and permissions after implementing access control model and its management is not easy in ABAC. In this paper, an access control model is developed that accumulates the strengths of RBAC and ABAC and also remove some of the deficiencies of above stated models. The proposed model implements and exploits the attributes of objects, permissions, roles, and users as foundation. Moreover the proposed model employs the role structuring ability of ABAC and tight security behavior of RBAC. We also implemented the proposed model and discussed with respect to a case study.

In many domains, organizations must model personnel and corresponding data access privileges as fine-grained hierarchical access control models. One class of such models, Role-based Access Control (RBAC) models, has been widely accepted and deployed. However, RBAC models are often used without involving cryptographic keys nor considering confidentiality/privacy at the data level. How to design, implement and dynamically modify such a hierarchy, ensure user and data privacy and distribute and manage necessary cryptographic keys are issues of the utmost importance. One elegant solution for cryptography-based hierarchical access control combines the collusion-resistant and privacy-preserving Access Control Polynomial (ACP) and Atallah's Dynamic and Efficient Extended Key Management scheme. Such a model involves cryptographic keys used to encrypt data, can address confidentiality/privacy at the data level and can efficiently support dynamic changes to the RBAC access hierarchy. In this paper, we discuss several implementation challenges and propose solutions when deploying such a system including: data encryption and decryption, key storage and key distribution. Furthermore, we provide analysis of the efficiency and scalability of the resulting system.