Resolving least privilege violations in software architectures

Abstract

Supporting a security principle, such as least privilege, in a software architecture is difficult. Systematic rules are lacking, no guidance explains how to apply the principle in practice. As a result, security principles are often neglected. This lowers the overall security level of the software system and the cost of fixing such problems later on in the development cycle is high. We propose an improvement in supporting least privilege in software architectures. We have identified architectural transformations that reduce violations to the principle of least privilege. These transformations have been implemented. We have applied the solution on a case study.