NCJ Number
57866
Date Published
1978
Length
38 pages
Annotation
ACCESS CONTROL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH A U.S. NAVY DATA BASE APPLICATION IS DESCRIBED ALONG WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH ENHANCED ACCESS CONTROL FACILITIES.
Abstract
THE OCEAN SURVEILLANCE DATA BASE (OSDB) OF THE U.S. NAVY INVOLVES MAINTAINING LOCATION AND STATUS INFORMATION ON SHIPS OF ALL TYPES AND NATIONALITIES. THE ENTIRE OSDB STRUCTURE CONTAINS OVER 100 RECORD TYPES. ACCESS CONTROL PROBLEMS IN OSDB OPERATION CONCERN: REDUNDANT HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND DATA; OVERCLASSIFICATION; AND LACK OF MULTILEVEL AUTHORIZATION AND CONTROL. TO MINIMIZE THESE PROBLEMS, THE HIGHLY SECURE DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (HSDMS) WAS DEVELOPED AND APPLIED TO THE OSDB. BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM INCLUDED MESSAGE PROCESSING, ASSURING THE CORRECTNESS OF DATA INPUT, AND DATA BASE ORGANIZATION (RECORDS AND FIELDS, FILE STRUCTURES, AND STAFF APPROVAL PROCESS FOR ACCESS). THE HSDMS HAD TO BE DEMONSTRATED IN TERMS OF DATA MANAGEMENT AND ACCESS CONTROL. TYPES OF ACCESS CONTROL CAPABILITIES WERE FILE-LEVEL, RECORD-LEVEL, AND FIELD-LEVEL ACCESS CONTROL AND THE CAPABILITY TO CHANGE ACCESS RIGHTS. SECURITY FACILITIES OF THE HSDMS WERE SUCCESSFULLY TESTED FOR THE OSDB APPLICATION. BENEFITS OF APPLYING ADVANCED SECURITY FEATURES OF AN EXPERIMENTAL DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE REAL WORLD PROBLEM OF OCEAN SURVEILLANCE WERE: ELIMINATION OF REDUNDANT HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND DATA; AUTOMATED ENFORCEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS; FREER ACCESS TO SYSTEMS BY WIDER CLASSES OF USERS WITH DIFFERENT ACCESS REQUIREMENTS AND SECURITY CONSTRAINTS; AND ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY SECURITY CLEARANCE COSTS DUE TO OVERCLASSIFICATION. DATA BASE SECURITY MECHANISMS ARE EXAMINED. ILLUSTRATIONS AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. EXAMPLES OF HSDMS USE CORRESPONDING TO VARIOUS STEPS IN THE EXPERIMENT ARE APPENDED. (DEP)