Attribute-based access control for distributed systems

Abstract

Securing information systems from cyber attacks, malware and internal cyber threats is a difficult problem. Attacks on authentication and authorization (access control) is one of the more predominant and potentially rewarding attacks on distributed architectures. Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) is one of the more recent mechanisms to provide access control capabilities. ABAC combines the strength of cryptography with semantic expressions and relational assertions. By this composition, a powerful grammar is devised that can not only define complex and scalable access control policies, but defend against attacks on the policy itself. This thesis demonstrates how ABAC can be used as a primary access control solution for enterprise and commercial applications.