Group Privilege Assignment for Least-Privilege Cloud Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional management of user access to resources in cloud environments is complex and results in overly permissive access privileges, leading to reduced security and increased processor usage.
Innovation Solution
A processor assigns privilege levels to groups of members instead of individuals, determining and applying least privilege levels to groups, and optionally partitioning groups into sub-groups to manage access efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If privilege levels are assigned to individual members, then access control precision is improved, but device complexity and processor usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the membership management by introducing a group leader concept. Instead of managing all members individually, the system divides members into groups with designated leaders who can manage privileges for other group members. This reduces the overall management complexity while maintaining precise access control through the hierarchical group structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The group leader acts as an intermediary between the system administrator and group members. The leader receives privilege level assignments and distributes them to group members, simplifying the system's direct management burden while maintaining precise control tracking. This intermediary layer reduces processor usage by consolidating management operations.
2Measurement precision
If privilege levels are assigned to individual members, then access control precision is improved, but processor utilization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the privilege management of multiple group members into a single group-level assignment. When a leader manages privilege levels for their group, the system processes one assignment rather than multiple individual assignments, significantly reducing processor utilization while maintaining precise tracking of each member's access levels through the group structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The group leader serves as a mediator that consolidates privilege management operations. Instead of the system processor directly managing each member's privileges separately, the leader intermediates by receiving and distributing privilege assignments, reducing the computational burden on the system processor while maintaining precise access control tracking.
3Reliability
If least privilege levels are assigned to groups, then security is improved, but access flexibility may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic privilege management where group leaders can adjust privilege levels for their members based on actual needs. The system allows privilege levels to be modified, upgraded, or downgraded as circumstances change, maintaining the security benefit of least privilege while providing the flexibility to adapt to different access requirements through the group management structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows dynamic changes to privilege level parameters for group members. Leaders can modify privilege assignments based on varying access requirements, and the system tracks these parameter changes while maintaining security through the least privilege principle. This enables flexible adaptation to different scenarios while preserving security benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
According to examples, an apparatus may include a memory on which is stored machine-readable instructions that may cause a processor to determine, for each of a plurality of members in a group, a respective least privilege level for a resource and determine, based on the determined respective least privilege levels, a privilege level to be assigned to the group for the resource. The instructions may also cause the processor to assign the determined privilege level to the group for the resource and apply the assigned privilege level to the members of the group for the resource.