Provisional Policy Evaluation Service for Secure Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing and implementing new computing resource policies to grant users access while ensuring security is complex, especially as systems grow, with unintended consequences possible when replacing existing policies, and reverting to older policies is time-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A policy management service evaluates provisional policies by comparing them to active policies, using a policy evaluation component to assess the impact on user access and alerting resource owners of potential issues, allowing for probabilistic implementation and incremental evaluation of provisional policies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new policies are generated to grant users access to resources, then user access capability is improved, but security risk increases due to unintended consequences
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of provisional policies by comparing them against active policies before implementation. The policy evaluation component assesses potential impacts on user access and security, allowing resource owners to identify and correct issues before the new policies are fully implemented, thus preventing unintended security consequences.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to resource owners about the potential impacts of provisional policies through the policy evaluation component. This feedback mechanism allows resource owners to understand the consequences of policy changes and make informed decisions about whether to proceed with implementation, balancing access capability improvements with security maintenance.
2Loss of time
If existing policies are replaced with new policies, then policy currency is improved, but system stability deteriorates due to unintended consequences
Solution Approach 1:
The policy evaluation component performs preliminary assessments of provisional policies before they replace active policies. This advance evaluation identifies potential stability issues, allowing the system to maintain stability while still updating policies to remain current and relevant.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements provisional policies in a controlled manner, evaluating them against a subset of active policies and user access patterns. This partial evaluation approach allows for incremental policy updates that maintain system stability while still improving policy currency over time.
3Measurement precision
If policy evaluation is performed comprehensively, then policy accuracy is improved, but evaluation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The policy evaluation process is segmented into multiple stages: initial comparison against active policies, assessment of user access impacts, and resource owner review. This segmentation allows for accurate evaluation while managing time by processing different aspects of policy accuracy at appropriate granularities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial evaluation by comparing provisional policies against a representative subset of active policies and access patterns rather than exhaustively evaluating every possible scenario. This provides sufficient accuracy for decision-making while significantly reducing evaluation time.
Data Source
AI summary
A policy management service receives a request to evaluate a provisional policy to determine the impact of implementation of the provisional policy. The policy management service evaluates an active policy against a request to access a computing resource to determine an authorization decision. The policy management service then evaluates the provisional policy against the request to access the computing resource to generate an evaluation of the provisional policy. The policy management service provides the evaluation and the authorization decision in response to the request to evaluate the provisional policy.