A comparison of type enforcement and Unix setuid implementation of well-formed transactions

• Published in: [1990] Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Computer Security Applications Conference pp. 304 - 312
• Main Authors: Thomsen, D.J., Haigh, J.T.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE Comput. Soc. Press 1990
• Subjects: Certification; Computer security; Control systems; Data security; Formal verification; Mechanical factors; Operating systems; Pipelines
• ISBN: 0818621052; 9780818621055
• DOI: 10.1109/CSAC.1990.143791

Two security mechanisms are compared and contrasted based on their implementation of the concept of well-formed transactions (D. Clark et al., 1987). They introduced the notion of transformation procedures which are intended to perform integrity preserving or enhancing operations on various classes of data. These operations are called well-formed transactions. This paper compares the effectiveness of two mechanisms for implementing the concept of a well-formed transaction, the Secure Ada Target (SAT) type enforcement mechanism and the Unix setuid mechanism.< >