Application Platform Role Activation for Environment-Based Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is not suited for enforcing application environment-based security policies that apply universally, regardless of user identity or role, as it requires complex user role assignments and system environment detection logic, making it difficult for security administrators to implement effectively.
Innovation Solution
An application platform automatically detects application environment states and activates corresponding roles without user role assignments, enabling enforcement of application environment-based security policies by examining aspects like network encryption and authentication modes, thereby simplifying policy enforcement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users are assigned to roles and roles are selectively activated based on system environment detection, then application environment based security policies can be enforced, but the implementation becomes complex requiring user role assignments and custom detection logic in each application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a security framework as an intermediary layer between applications and the RBAC system. This framework automatically detects application environment states and activates appropriate roles without requiring custom detection logic in each application. The framework acts as a mediator that handles environment detection and role activation centrally, eliminating the need for applications to implement custom detection logic while maintaining reliable security policy enforcement
Solution Approach 2:
The security framework provides universal functionality for detecting various application environment states (such as network encryption status) and mapping them to role activations. Instead of requiring each application to implement its own detection and mapping logic, the framework offers a universal mechanism that works across all applications, simplifying the overall system while maintaining comprehensive security coverage
2Reliability
If security administrators manually assign users to roles and configure environment detection logic, then security policies can be enforced, but administrative workload and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The framework enables the system to automatically detect application environment states and activate appropriate roles without requiring manual intervention from security administrators. The environment detection and role activation processes occur automatically based on the detected state, eliminating the need for administrators to manually configure detection logic or assign roles for each application environment, thereby significantly reducing administrative workload while maintaining reliable security policy enforcement
3Reliability
If each application implements custom logic for detecting system environment states and mapping them to roles, then application environment based security policies can be enforced, but development complexity and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The security framework serves as an intermediary layer that applications simply need to interact with through standard interfaces. Applications don't need to implement custom detection logic or complex role mapping code. Instead, they interact with the framework's standardized APIs to trigger security checks, and the framework automatically handles environment detection and role activation, significantly simplifying application development and maintenance while maintaining reliable security policy enforcement
Data Source
AI summary
An application platform examines, at runtime, various specified aspects of an application environment in which an application interacts with a user. Such examinations are made to determine a state for each of the various specified aspects. Further, the platform automatically activates particular application environment roles for the user depending on the result of the examinations. For example, an application environment role may be activated representing a particular detected mode of communication (e.g., encrypted network communications) or a particular detected manner of authentication (e.g., password authentication). Such activations are based on the detected states and specified states for the various specified aspects of the application environment. Such activations may occur in the context of an application attempting to perform an operation on an access controlled object on behalf of a user. Further, such activations may occur in the context of establishing or maintaining a user session for a user of an application.