Mandatory access control (MAC) method
View Patent ↗A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system is presented. A first integrity subject reads a first object. The first integrity subject attempts to read a second object. It is determined that a conflict exists between the first and second objects. At least one security rule is applied to the conflict between the first and the second objects.
1. A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system comprising:
providing a first integrity subject having a high integrity level, wherein the first integrity subject is a set of computer instructions residing in an operating system, wherein the operating system employs a low water-mark access control mechanism;
reading a first object having a high integrity level through the first integrity subject;
attempting to read a second object through the first integrity subject, the second object having an integrity level that is lower than the high integrity level;
determining whether a conflict exists between the first object and the second object, such that a conflict exists when the second object may corrupt the first object;
retaining the high integrity level of the first integrity subject when there is no conflict between the first object and the second object; and
demoting the integrity level of the first integrity subject to a lower integrity level when a conflict exists between the first object and the second object.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first object is associated with highly sensitive data.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the second object is associated with low sensitive data.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first object and the second object are at least one of a data file or a file directory residing in the operating system.
5. A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system comprising:
providing a subject having a high integrity level, wherein the subject is a set of computer instructions residing in an operating system, wherein the operating system employs a low water-mark access control mechanism;
reading a first object through the subject;
attempting to read a second object, the second object having a lower integrity level than the first object;
determining that a conflict exists between the first and the second objects, such that a conflict exists when the second object may corrupt the first object; and
denying access of the second object to the subject when a conflict exists between the first and second objects.
6. A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system comprising:
providing a subject having a low integrity level, wherein the subject is a set of computer instructions residing in an operating system, wherein the operating system employs a low water-mark access control mechanism;
reading a LOW integrity object having a low integrity level through the subject;
attempting to read a HIGH integrity object having an integrity level higher than the LOW integrity object;
determining that a conflict exists between the LOW and the HIGH integrity objects, such that a conflict exists when the HIGH integrity object may corrupt the LOW integrity object; and
denying access of the HIGH object to the subject when a conflict exists between the HIGH integrity object and the LOW integrity object.
7. A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system comprising:
providing a subject having a low integrity level, wherein the subject is a set of computer instructions residing in an operating system, wherein the operating system employs a low water-mark access control mechanism;
reading a first LOW integrity object having a low integrity level through the subject;
attempting to read a second LOW integrity object having a low integrity level;
determining that a conflict exists between the first and the second LOW integrity objects, such that a conflict exists when the second LOW integrity object may corrupt the first LOW integrity object; and
denying access of the second LOW object to the subject when a conflict exists between the first and second LOW integrity objects.
8. A mandatory access control method for securing an operating system comprising:
providing a first integrity subject having a higher integrity level, wherein the first integrity subject is a set of computer instructions residing in an operating system, wherein the operating system employs a low water-mark access control mechanism;
reading a first object having a high integrity level through the first integrity subject;
attempting to write to a second object through the first integrity subject, the second object having an integrity level that is lower than the integrity level of the first object;
determining that a conflict exists between the first and second objects, such that a conflict exists when the second object may corrupt the first object;
retaining the high integrity level of the first integrity subject when there is no conflict between the first object and the second object; and
demoting the integrity level of the first integrity subject to a lower integrity level when a conflict exists between the first object and the second object.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first object is associated with highly sensitive data.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the second object is associated with low sensitive data.
11. The mandatory access control method of claim 5 wherein the first object and the second object are at least one of a data file or a file directory residing in the operating system.
12. The mandatory access control method of claim 6 wherein the LOW integrity object and the HIGH integrity object are at least one of a data file or a file directory residing in the operating system.
13. The mandatory access control method of claim 8 wherein the first object and the second object are at least one of a data file or a file directory residing in the operating system.