Centralized Security Rule Enforcement via Chamber Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing computer security techniques fail to effectively control software processes' actions on resources due to lack of centralized rule enforcement, leading to potential malicious activities and unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a centralized rule database that associates each software process with a unique chamber and enforces security rules through a set of service providers, using canonical names for resources and access tokens to manage actions, ensuring that only authorized processes can perform actions on protected resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a centralized rule database is implemented to enforce security rules, then security control effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments security enforcement into distinct components: a centralized rule database storing security policies, chamber managers that oversee individual chambers, and service providers that execute specific actions. This segmentation allows the complex security control function to be divided into manageable, specialized modules that can be independently developed and maintained.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components including chamber managers that act as mediators between software processes and the centralized rule database, and service providers that mediate between resource access requests and security enforcement. These intermediaries simplify the overall system architecture by handling security logic centrally rather than requiring complex distributed security checks at every access point.
2Manufacturing precision
If each software process is associated with a unique chamber, then access control precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates isolated chambers for each software process, segmenting the execution environment to enforce precise access control boundaries. This segmentation ensures that processes can only access resources within their designated chamber unless explicitly permitted by security rules, achieving high access control precision through structural division.
Solution Approach 2:
Despite creating individual chambers for each process, the system uses a universal chamber manager component that handles security enforcement for all chambers through a common interface with the centralized rule database. This universal manager reduces device complexity by avoiding the need for separate security management logic in each chamber.
3Reliability
If service providers are used to perform actions on protected resources, then security enforcement is improved, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Service providers are designed to autonomously enforce security rules by directly querying the centralized rule database and making authorization decisions without requiring complex manual security management. This self-service capability improves security enforcement while reducing operational complexity by eliminating the need for manual security policy configuration and enforcement at each access point.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where service providers query the centralized rule database to determine whether actions are permitted, and where the chamber manager receives notifications about security rule violations. This feedback loop ensures consistent security enforcement across all service providers while maintaining simple operation through automated decision-making based on centralized rules.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques of using a centralized rule database to control the abilities of software processes to perform actions with regard to resources provided by a computer. As described herein, each software process executing in a computer executes within a chamber and each resource provided by the computer is associated with a canonical name that uniquely identifies the resource. Furthermore, the computer stores a set of security rules in a centralized rule database. In addition, this disclosure describes techniques of enforcing the rules stored in the centralized rule database.