On the formal definition of separation-of-duty policies and their composition

Abstract

Formally defines a wide variety of separation-of-duty (SoD) properties, including the best known to date, and establishes their relationships within a formal model of role-based access control (RBAC). The formalism helps to remove all the ambiguities of informal definition and offers a wide choice of implementation strategies. We also explore the composability of SoD properties and policies under a simple criterion. We conclude that the practical implementation of SoD policies requires new methods and tools for security administration, even within applications that already support RBAC, such as most database management systems.