Akenti Distributed Access Control Application By Jiewei Lin
Overview Background Design goals Akenti specific certificates Akenti engine Akenti in use Conclusion References
Background Started at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in 1998 Designed to solve problem of multiple resource and multiple owners Used in a public-key environment
Goals Allow different owner requirements Take immediate effect of owner requirements Support high level of integrity and non- repudiation
Akenti High Level Diagram (Credit JISC)
Akenti at a Closer View
Akenti specific certificates Policy certificates Use Condition certificates Attribute certificates Capability certificates
Akenti specific certificates (2) Shown an example
Entities in this exercise CA I CA IA (ca of Stake Holder I, and User I.) Stake Holder I User I (has Attribute Cert: ou=sjsu && job=student, and cn=User I)
Akenti Engine – Case Study I Resource: R1 Policy Cert.: trusted CA = CAI Use Cond.: ou=sjsu && job=student scope=local critical=true actions=read Permission Granted: action=read
Akenti Engine – Case Study II Resource: R2 Policy Cert.: trusted CA = CAI Use Cond.: ou=sjsu && job=student scope=subtree critical=true actions=read Permission Granted: action=read
Akenti Engine – Case Study III Resource: R2/S1 Policy Cert.: trusted CA = CA I Use Cond.: cn=User I scope=local critical=false actions=write, execute Permission Granted: action=read, write, execute
Akenti Engine – Case Study IV Resource: R3 Policy Cert.: trusted CA = CA I Use Cond.: ou=sjsu && job=student scope=local critical=true actions=read Use Cond.: time>10:00 && time <12:00 scope=local critical=true actions=write, execute Permission Granted: action=read action=write, execute if time>10:00 && time <12:00
Usage As a function As an access control using Apache module in a web server
Conclusion Mature and sophisticated authorization app. Uses flexible access control policies A useful tool
References [AK] itg.lbl.gov/security/Akenti/ itg.lbl.gov/security/Akenti/ [JISC] neral/talks/140/7.ppt neral/talks/140/7.ppt [SURA] y/sld001.htm
Questions ?