CAREER: Programmable Security for Distributed Systems and Databases

University Of Tulsa, Tulsa OK

Investigators

Abstract

John Hale University of Tulsa CCR-9984774 ABSTRACT Systematic attacks to military, government and corporate networks underscore the fundamental importance of computer security. Unfortunately, current approaches to security often yield ad hoc patchworks of inconsistent policies and incompatible mechanisms. The problem is two-fold: Techniques and tools are limited, and educational programs are sparse. The research activities embed configurable security services within programming languages for developing distributed applications. Denotational semantics for these languages map high-level access control structures into a ticket-based model that captures heterogeneous security policies and supports the formal verification of secure behavior. Specialized algorithms implement security proofs for applications at compile-time and runtime. A secure information enclave, a proof-of-concept application, is built around a glue language with programmable security policy coordination services. Mediators gather metadata from remote sites, engaging cooperative policy management methods to negotiate secure interoperability. Static and dynamic analyses guarantee global policy consistency for the enclave. The educational activities have three major thrusts: The development of a Center of Excellence for Information Assurance Education, the expansion of the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge --a nationally recognized program of academics, research and service designed for computer science majors, and the systematic incorporation of minorities, especially Native Americans (the PI is a native Cherokee), in computer science and engineering programs in the state of Oklahoma.