A pattern language for security models

Abstract

Security is a serious problem in the Internet and it is necessary to build new systems incorporating security as integral part of their design. The use of patterns is a good tool to help designers build secure systems. We discuss three patterns that correspond to the most common models for security: Authorization, Role-Based Access Control, and Multilevel Security. These can be applied in all the levels of the system and we show their use in the definition of a pattern for file authorization.