Seminar on Network Security
Introduction of the topics and some material for the session of
Tutors: Camillo Särs and Ursula Holmström
The current authentication methods employed on the Internet are
proving inadequate. They do not provide the required security, and
do not scale beyond single implementations. Several different
attempts at correcting this have been made, but no single system has
yet gained widespread acceptance.
This paper should present a review of the problems related to trust and authentication from the point-of-view of a security application. A good starting point is the "PolicyMaker" system for "trust
management", which identifies may core points.
The author should avoid clashing with the following topic "Policy
Specification Languanges" and focus on the problems, not the solution.
Security policies have traditionally been considered to be pieces
of paper describing a set of rules for an organization that, when
properly enforced, should ensure a reasonable level of security.
Expressing such policies in a way that can be used in
security applications is not easy. Lately a few attempts at this has
been published, although the scope of the specifications is often
limited.
This paper should present several policy specification languages
and review their semantics and expressive power. Their suitability
for a number of real-world applications should be evaluated. Two good
starting points are "KeyNote" and the "Security Policy Specification
Language (SPSL)".
The author should avoid clashing with the previous topic
"Expressing Trust and Authorization" and focus on the expressive power of the languages, not the problem field.
Windows NT includes mechanisms that enable system administrators to
control the rights and environments of their users. These mechanisms
are rarely used in NT 4.0 or earlier, but do give the skilled
administrator some policy based management options. In Windows 2000,
the system will be expanded further.
This paper should first present the policy features of NT 4.0. The
drawbacks and limitations should be described. Consequently, the
improvements presented in Windows 2000 should be covered and a
comparison of the two systems should be made.
The author should note that this topic requires the ability
individually find and process information from several sources. The
paper will be rated as much for the quality of the presentation of the
information as for the quality of the sources found.
Trust, authorization, policies, usability
Material to begin
Material to begin
Material to begin
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E-mail: netsec@tcm.hut.fi.
The page has been last updated on
20.4.1999
.
URL: http://www.tcm.hut.fi/Opinnot/Tik-110.501/1999/index.html