Re: Advantage of XML based GUI? (was Re: Ada-inspired OS/Language)

[nickroberts@blueyonder.co.uk (Nick Roberts)]

On Fri, 13 Sep 2002 07:57:02 +0000 (UTC), Preben Randhol
<randhol+news@pvv.org> strongly typed:

>On Thu, 12 Sep 2002 12:03:55 -0500, David C. Hoos wrote:
>> It's just to enforce that a secret document cannot be printed without each
>> of
>> its pages being labelled as "secret," etc. I.e., _every_ document printed on
>> a printer accessible from computers with classified material _must_ print
>> a security label on each page -- even if it's only to say "UNCLASSIFIED"
>
>If you are in the military I guess, but not for non military use.
>
>But if you then have two PS files. One that is Top Secret and one that
>is Unrestricted (or what it is called), how will the system know to put
>the right labels on them? Will the files have a security level attribute?

Are you asking about AdaOS, Preben?

If so, the answer is 'yes'. Every single data object in the system will
have two 'mandatory' security labels: a 'confidentiality label' and an
'integrity label'. The system will enforce the following basic semantics:
no information is allowed to flow from a data object to another data object
with a lower confidentiality label; no information is allowed to flow from
a data object to another data object with a higher integrity label.

In AdaOS, everything will be an object. A file will be an object.
Furthermore, it'll be a data object, so it will have mandatory labels.

So, if a file "Next Generation Stealth Technology 2002.ps" has
confidentiality label "Top Secret", and I am (represented by) an object
with the lower confidentiality label "Mere Pion", I will be prevented from
accessing the data in the report. Nor will it be permitted to print the
file on the printer in the office lobby (with confidentiality label "Anyone
Can See This"); it must be printed on a printer with a confidentiality
label equal to or higher than "Top Secret", and even then it will have "TOP
SECRET" printed on the top and bottom of every page. This all assumes an
organisation that has set up its computer security properly.

And I say 'organisation', because I could be talking about a DoD
department, or I could just as easily be talking about Lockheed Martin
(Skunkworks) or some other corporation. Consider the banks and other
financial institutions; isn't it vital that their data is protected? Then
consider medical records. Passport, national insurance, and immigration
records. Police and court records. The list goes on and on. Their data
security is vital.

-- 
Nick Roberts