[cap-talk] Second ABAC Google talk is now up

[Kenton Varda]

Yes, the fact that ABAC is just good object-oriented programming has been
pointed out before.

I wonder if renaming the whole concept to "object-oriented security" would
make it more intuitive.

You could describe it as "using encapsulation and data hiding as a secutity
mechanism".

On 7/17/06, Julien Couvreur <julien.couvreur at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I really like this lecture series; please keep us posted when new ones
> become available. I wish we could have it at Microsoft too.
> Also, I look forward to the talk on capabilities applied to the web.
>
> Back to the last talk: the fact that it's so hard to explain
> capability-based security keeps bugging me. (It takes an hour+ and
> people might still not be clear.)
> In comparison, it's rather easy to explain the problem with
> principal-based security (solitaire example, confused deputy), but I
> haven't seen a good 5 minute overview of capabilities.
>
> My suggestion to address this would be to make a parallel with
> object-oriented programming.
>
> OO provides a set of primitives (objects, member/global variables,
> private/public modifiers, APIs, design patterns) which helps the
> programmer divide and manage responsibilities.
> "Authority-driven design" is the same kind of change, but for
> authority. It's actually a variant of OOP, with greater emphasis on
> encapsulation, avoiding global state, improved APIs (designed with
> authority in mind) and its own set of design patterns (also geared
> towards managing authority).
> Also, the names, "authority-driven design" or "authority-oriented
> design", help people get an idea of the kind of paradigm shift that we
> want them to understand, because they can make the parallel with the
> OO shift.
>
> After framing the scope and the nature of the paradigm with a high
> level intro, then you can dive into the technical details of the
> primitives and patterns. Achieving revocation and the star property
> should fit in the design patterns bucket.
>
> My 2 cents too ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Julien
>
> On 7/16/06, Sandro Magi <smagi at naasking.homeip.net> wrote:
> > I think the discussion of the academic history in the literature
> > detracted a bit from the distinction you were trying to draw between
> > permission and authority. I think the point is better made by focusing
> > on the concrete examples you provided in the talk, ie. setting up a web
> > server to circumvent permission limitations, and then abstracting it to
> > the reference graph.
> >
> > The web server example might be a bit of a stretch for some people, but
> > there are workable alternatives, such as the unix 'write' command, if
> > there are objections.
> >
> > I think that the academic history should be a side note, more like a "so
> > why hasn't anybody done this before? They have!" Of course, this depends
> > on the audience, as academics may be more interested in hearing how this
>
> > information relates to prior research. However, covering prior research
> > too early carries the danger of running into bias or objections over
> > your interpretation before your point is made.
> >
> > Just my 2 cents. :-)
> >
> > Sandro
> >
> > Mark S. Miller wrote:
> > > Kenton Varda wrote:
> > >> I thought it was sort of hard to follow what overall points you were
> > >> trying to make in the talk.  The information seemed to be there, but
> it
> > >> wasn't always clear where you were going with it (or, it wouldn't be
> > >> clear if I hadn't been familiar with the topic already).  Perhaps you
> > >> could try stating your thesis more clearly before getting into the
> > >> details, and repeat it now and then as you go.  Emphasize it so that
> > >> people can more easily understand what statements are key points and
> > >> what statements are just background information.
> > >
> > > Good suggestions. Thanks.
> > >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > cap-talk mailing list
> > cap-talk at mail.eros-os.org
> > http://www.eros-os.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-talk
> >
> _______________________________________________
> cap-talk mailing list
> cap-talk at mail.eros-os.org
> http://www.eros-os.org/mailman/listinfo/cap-talk
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.eros-os.org/pipermail/cap-talk/attachments/20060717/3a09808e/attachment.html