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X/Open Single Sign-on Service (XSSO) -<br>
Pluggable Authentication Modules
X/Open Single Sign-on Service (XSSO) -
Pluggable Authentication Modules
Copyright © 1997 The Open Group
Glossary
access control
The prevention of unauthorized use of a resource including the prevention of
use of a resource in an unauthorized manner (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
access control information
(ACI) -
any information used for access control purposes, including contextual
information (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
access control policy
The set of rules that define the conditions under which an access may take
place (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
accountability
The property that ensures that the actions of an entity may be traced to that
entity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
ACI
Access control information.
ACL
Access control list.
action
The operations and operands that form part of an
attempted access (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
active threat
The threat of a deliberate unauthorized change to the state of the system
administrative security information
Persistent information associated with entities; it is conceptually stored
in the Security Management Information Base. Examples are:
-
security attributes associated with users and set up on user account
installation, which is used to configure the user's identity and privileges
within the system
-
information configuring a secure interaction policy between one entity and
another entity, which is used as the basis for the establishment of
operational associations between those two entities.
API
Application Programming Interface.
The interface between the application software and the application platform,
across which all services are provided.
The application programming interface is primarily in support of application
portability, but system and application interoperability are also supported
by a communication API (see POSIX.0).
assertion
Explicit statement in a system security policy that security measures in one
security domain constitute an adequate basis for security measures (or lack
of them) in another (see CESG Memo).
audit
See Security Audit (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
audit authority
The manager responsible for defining those aspects of a security policy
applicable to maintaining a security audit (see ISO/IEC 10081-7).
audit trail
See Security Audit Trail (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
authenticated identity
An identity of a principal that has been assured through
authentication (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
authentication
Verify claimed identity;
see data origin authentication, and peer entity authentication
(see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
authentication certificate
Authentication information in the form of a security certificate which may be
used to assure the identity of an entity guaranteed by an authentication
authority (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
authentication exchange
A sequence of one or more transfers of exchange authentication information
(AI) for the purposes of performing an
authentication (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
authentication information (AI)
Information used to establish the validity
of a claimed identity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
authentication initiator
The entity which starts an authentication
exchange (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
authentication method
Method for demonstrating knowledge of a secret. The quality of the
authentication method, its strength is determined by the cryptographic
basis of the key distribution service on which it is based.
A symmetric key based method, in which both entities share common
authentication information, is considered to be a weaker method
than an asymmetric key based method, in which not all the
authentication information is shared by both entities.
authorization
The granting of rights, which includes the granting of access based on access
rights (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
authorization policy
A set of rules, part of an access control policy, by which access by security
subjects to security objects is granted or denied. An authorization policy may
be defined in terms of access control lists, capabilities or attributes
assigned to security subjects, security objects
or both (see ECMA TR/46).
availability
The property of being accessible and usable upon demand by an authorized
entity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
claim authentication information
(Claim AI) -
information used by a claimant to generate exchange AI needed to authenticate
a principal (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
clear text
Intelligible data, the semantic content of
which is available (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
client-server
These operations occur between a pair of communicating independent peer
processes. The peer process initiating a service request is termed the
client. The peer process responding to a service request is termed the
server. A process may act as both client and server in the context of a set
of transactions.
confidentiality
The property that information is not made available or disclosed to
unauthorized individuals, entities, or processes (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
contextual information
Information derived from the context in which an access is made (for
example, time of day) (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
corporate security policy
The set of laws, rules and practices that regulate how assets including
sensitive information are managed, protected and distributed within a user
organization (see ITSEC).
countermeasure
The deployment of a set of security services to protect against a security
threat.
credentials
Data that is transferred to establish
the claimed identity of an entity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
data integrity
The property that data has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized
manner (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
data origin authentication
The corroboration that the entity responsible for the creation of a set
of data is the one claimed.
denial of service
The unauthorized prevention of authorized access to resources or the
delaying of time-critical operations (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
digital fingerprint
A characteristic of a data item, such as a cryptographic checkvalue or the
result of performing a one-way hash function on the data, that is sufficiently
peculiar to the data item that it is computationally infeasible to find
another data item that possesses the same
characteristics (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
digital signature
Data appended to, or a cryptographic transformation (see cryptography) of, a
data unit that allows a recipient of the data unit to prove the source and
integrity of the data unit and protect against forgery for example, by the
recipient (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
discretionary access control
A discretionary authorization scheme is one under which any principal using
the domain services may be authorized to assign or modify ACI such that he
may modify the authorizations of other principals under the scheme. A
typical example is an ACL scheme which is often referred to as
Discretionary Access Control (DAC).
distinguishing identifier
Data that unambiguously distinguishes an entity in the authentication
process. Such an identifier shall be unambiguous at least within a security
domain (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
distributed application
A set of information processing resources distributed over one or more open
systems which provides a well-defined set of functionality to (human) users,
to assist a given (office) task (see ECMA TR/46).
exchange authentication information
(Exchange AI) -
information exchanged between a claimant and a verifier during the process of
authenticating a principal (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
identification
The assignment of a name by which an entity can be referenced.
The entity may be high level (such as a user) or low level (such as a
process or communication channel.
identity-based security policy
A security policy based on the identities or attributes of users, a group
of users, or entities acting on behalf of the users and the resources
or targets
being accessed (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
initiator
An entity (for example, human user or computer based entity) that attempts
to access other entities (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
integrity
See Data Integrity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
masquerade
The unauthorized pretence by an entity to be a different entity (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
non-discretionary access control
A non-discretionary authorization scheme is one under which only the
recognized security authority of the security domain may assign or modify
the ACI for the authorization scheme such that the authorizations of
principals under the scheme are modified.
off-line authentication certificate
A particular form of authentication information binding an entity to a
cryptographic key, certified by a trusted authority, which may be used for
authentication without directly interacting
with the authority (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
on-line authentication certificate
A particular form of authentication information, certified by a trusted
authority, which may be used for authentication following direct interaction
with the authority (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
operational security information
Transient information related to a single operation or set of operations
within the context of an operational association, for example, a user
session.
Operational security information represents the current security context of
the operations and may be passed as parameters to the operational primitives
or retrieved from the operations environment as defaults.
organizational security policy
Set of laws, rules, and practices that regulates how an organization manages,
protects, and distributes sensitive information (see Federal Criteria).
password
Confidential authentication information, usually composed of a string of
characters (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
peer-entity authentication
The corroboration that a peer entity in an association is the one
claimed (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
physical security
The measures used to provide physical protection of resources against
deliberate and accidental threats (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
platform domain
A security domain encompassing the operating system, the entities
and operations it supports and its security policy.
policy
See security policy (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
primary service
An independent category of service such as operating system services,
communication services and data management services.
Each primary service provides a discrete set of functionality.
Each primary service inherently includes generic qualities such as
usability, manageability and security.
Security services are therefore not primary services but are invoked as part
of the provision of primary services by the primary service provider.
principal
An entity whose identity can be authenticated (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
privacy
The right of individuals to control or influence what information related to
them may be collected and stored and by whom and to whom that information may
be disclosed.
- Note:
- because this term relates to the right of individuals, it cannot be
very precise and its use should be avoided except as a motivation for
requiring security (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
quality of protection
A label that implies methods of security protection under a security
policy. This normally includes a combination of integrity and
confidentiality requirements and is typically implemented in a
communications environment by a combination of cryptographic
mechanisms.
repudiation
Denial by one of the entities involved in a communication of having
participated in all or part of the communication (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
rule-based security policy
A security policy based on global rules imposed for all users. These rules
usually rely on a comparison of the sensitivity of the resources being
accessed and the possession of corresponding attributes of users, a group of
users, or entities acting on behalf of users (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
seal
A cryptographic checkvalue that supports integrity but does not protect
against forgery by the recipient (that is, it does not support
non-repudiation). When a seal is associated with a data element, that data
element is
sealed (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
secondary discretionary disclosure
An example of the misuse of access rights. It occurs when a principal
authorized to access some information copies that information and authorizes
access to the copy by a second principal who is not authorized to access the
original information.
secret key
In a symmetric cryptographic algorithm the key shared between two
entities (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
secure association
An instance of secure communication (using communication in the broad sense
of space and/or time) which makes use of a secure context.
secure context
The existence of the necessary information for the correct operation of the
security mechanisms at the appropriate place and time.
secure interaction policy
The common aspects of the security policies in effect at each of the
communicating application processes (see CESG Memo).
security architecture
A high level description of the structure of a system, with security functions
assigned to components within
this structure (see CESG Memo).
security attribute
A security attribute is a piece of security information which is associated
with an entity.
security audit
An independent review and examination of system records and operations in
order to test for adequacy of system controls, to ensure compliance with
established policy and operational procedures, to detect breaches in security
and to recommend any indicated changes
in control, policy and procedures (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
security audit trail
Data collected and potentially used to facilitate
a security audit (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
security auditor
An individual or a process allowed to have access to the security audit trail
and to build audit reports (see ISO/IEC 10081-7).
security aware
The caller of an API that is aware of the security functionality and
parameters which may be provided by an API.
security certificate
A set of security-relevant data from an issuing security authority
that is protected by integrity and data
origin authentication, and includes an
indication of a time period of validity (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
- Note:
- All certificates are deemed to be security certificates (see the
relevant definitions in 7498-2). The term "security certificate"
is adopted in order to avoid terminology conflicts with [X.509 | ISO
9594-8] (that is, the directory authentication standard).
[ISO/IEC CD 10181-1:Dec 1992]
security domain
A set of elements, a security policy, a security authority and a set of
security-relevant operations in which the set of elements are subject to the
security policy, administered by the security authority, for the specified
operations (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
security event manager
An individual or process allowed to specify and manage the events which may
generate a security message and to establish the action or actions to
be taken for each security message type (see ISO/IEC 10081-7).
security label
The marking bound to a resource (which may be a data unit) that names or
designates the security attributes of that resource (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
- Note:
- The marking may be explicit or implicit.
security policy
The set of criteria for the provision of security services (see also
identity-based and rule-based security policy).
security service
A service which may be invoked directly or indirectly by functions
within a system that ensures
adequate security of the system or of data transfers between
components of the system or with other systems.
security state
State information that is held in an open system
and which is required for the
provision of security services.
security token
A set of security-relevant data that is protected by integrity and data
origin authentication from a source that is not considered a security
authority (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
security unaware
The caller of an API that is unaware of the security functionality and
parameters which may be provided by an API.
service domain
A security domain encompassing an application, the entities and
operations it supports and its security policy.
signature
See digital signature (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
strength of mechanism
An aspect of the assessment of the effectiveness of a security mechanism,
namely the ability of the security mechanism to withstand direct attack
against deficiencies in its underlying algorithms, principles and
properties (see ITSEC).
system security function
A capability of an open system to perform
security-related processing (see CESG Memo).
target
An entity to which access may be attempted (see ISO/IEC 10081-3).
threat
A potential violation of security (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
An action or event that might prejudice security (see ITSEC).
trap door
A hidden software or hardware mechanism that permits system protection
mechanisms to be circumvented. It is activated in some non-apparent manner
(for example, special "random" key sequence at a terminal) (see TCSEC).
trojan horse
Computer program containing an apparent or actual useful function that
contains additional (hidden) functions that allow unauthorized collection,
falsification or destruction of data (see Federal Criteria).
trust
A relationship between two elements, a set of operations and a security policy
in which element X trusts element Y if and only if X has confidence that Y
behaves in a well defined way (with respect to the operations) that does
not violate the given security policy (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
trusted computing base (TCB)
The totality of protection mechanisms within an IT system, including
hardware, firmware, software and data, the combination of which is
responsible for enforcing the security policy.
trusted functionality
That which is perceived to be correct with respect to some criteria, for
example, as established by a security policy (see ISO/IEC 7498-2).
trusted path
Mechanism by which a person using a terminal can communicate directly with the
TCB (see Federal Criteria).
- Note:
- Trusted path can only be activated by the person or the TCB and
cannot be imitated by untrusted software.
trusted third party
A security authority or its agent, trusted by other entities with respect to
security-related operations (see ISO/IEC 10081-1).
verification AI
Information used by a verifier to verify an identity claimed through exchange
AI (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
verifier
An entity which is or represents the entity requiring an authenticated
identity. A verifier includes the functions necessary for engaging in
authentication exchanges (see ISO/IEC 10081-2).
vulnerability
Weakness in an information system or components (for example, system security
procedures, hardware design, internal controls) that could be exploited to
produce an information-related misfortune (see Federal Criteria).
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