EP0736827A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Security administration for electronic data processing
Assignee: HP Inc
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Filing: 1996-03-05
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-03-05
Abstract
Abstract An object oriented tool monitors the step-by-step progress of security administration within an electronic work flow to implement access control measures, and security administration policies that may include additional checks and balances, such as second party review, escalated authorization requirements, and trusted audit facilities. A security administration architecture for distributed electronic data processing systems preferably includes a checkpoint object that provides uniform characterization of milestone or transition states in administration activity, and which may be inherited by or refined to an administration activity object. A checkpoint object manager that is instantiated as a trusted third party object manages the state progression of checkpoint objects. As a result of checkpointing, checkpoint objects are resumed with their state advanced, reversed, or unchanged by the checkpoint object manager as appropriate. The checkpoint object manager also assures that all checkpoints are logged and monitored, and that resumptions are authenticated.
Inventors
- 👤 Keith S. Klemba
- 👤 Christopher J. Crall
- 👤 Thomas A. Palmer
- 👤 Joseph N. Pato
- 👤 Anne H. Anderson
- 👤 Gregory P. Carpenter
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 13:58
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/50; G06F21/55; G06F21/554; G06F21/60; G06F21/604; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/46; G06F9/466
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
67 words
An apparatus for monitoring step-by-step progress of security administration within an electronic work flow, comprising: a checkpoint object (15) that provides uniform characterization of milestone and/or transition states in administration activity, where object class definition is inherited by or refined to an administration activity object; and a checkpoint object manager (25) that is instantiated as a trusted third party object which manages state progression of checkpoint objects.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein said checkpoint object manager further comprises: an action (23) that resumes checkpointed objects with their state either advanced, reversed, or unchanged.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of either of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the checkpoint object manager further comprises: an action (33) that assures that all checkpoints are logged and/or monitored.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the checkpoint object manager further comprises: an action (23) that assures that all resumptions are authenticated.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein said checkpoint object (15) must checkpoint to said checkpoint object manager (25) to obtain second party approval.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein said checkpoint object manager (25) provides any of second party review, escalated authorization requirements, and trusted audit facilities.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
49 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein said checkpoint object (15) may inherit an object class having any desired security administration attributes; and wherein any object that has these attributes, or that has inherited this class, can then be managed by said checkpoint object manager (25).
Claim 8
Independent Claim
63 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 7, further comprising: a task that may be performed as part of a process until it reaches a checkpoint, at which point the process checks-in a checkpoint object to said checkpoint object manager (25), wherein said checkpoint object cannot be checked-out of said checkpoint object manager unless criteria that implement security administration policies are met.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein said checkpoint object (15) allows suspension of a task, and said task may not resumed, except as authorized.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
41 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein said checkpoint object manager (25) escalates said checkpoint object (15) upon failure to resume a suspended task, either by receiving authorization and/or by returning to said task within a predetermined time.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
236 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 10, said checkpoint object (15) further comprising one or more of the following attributes (22): an applicationlD attribute which identifies a name of an application that sets the context for this checkpoint; an ApplCkPntState attribute that indicates a state of an object when a checkpoint is performed; an ApplResumeState attribute that indicates a state with which an object should resume; an ApplAuthRule attribute which is a signed authorization rule that is used by a current application, where said rule is indexed by states such that it governs authorization entitlements as said application's activities progress; a CkPntTimeLimit attribute that indicates a time limit that said checkpoint object may reside with said checkpoint manager, where if said time limit is exceeded, said checkpoint manager issues an event to signal escalation of checkpoint attention; a CkPntObjMgrlD attribute that records a list of all checkpoint object managers that have currently serviced a checkpoint object; a CkPntDataPntrs[] attribute that provides a list of pointers to current checkpoint data, where said data is stored as binary data by said checkpoint object manager, such that if the data comprise a pointer, then only a pointer is returned by said checkpoint object manager; and such that if the data comprise actual data, then the data are stored by said checkpoint object manager; and a CkPntSeal attribute that provides a trusted seal of current checkpoint object information.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
42 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 11, said checkpoint object (15) further comprising at least the following action (23): a Seal_CkPntObj() action that computes a CkPntSeal attribute, where said CkPntSeal attribute provides a trusted seal of current checkpoint object information.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
64 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 12, said checkpoint object manager (25) further comprising one or more of the following attributes (32): an ApplCkPntCount attribute that provides a count of checkpoint objects that are currently checkpoihted by the checkpoint object manager; and an ApplCkPntList[] attribute that provides a non-ordered list of checkpoint objects that are currently checkpointed by the checkpoint object manager.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
192 words
The apparatus of any of Claims 1 to 13, said checkpoint object manager (25) further comprising one or more of the following actions (33): a Find() action that searches an ApplCkPntList attribute for objects that match a criteria of passed arguments, where said ApplCkPntList attribute provides a non-ordered list of checkpoint objects that are currently checkpointed by the checkpoint object manager; a Delete() action that is adapted to delete a checkpointed object, where authorization required for the Delete() action is associated with administration entitlements for said checkpoint object manager; a CkPnt() action that checkpoints an application object that contains the CkPntObj class behavior, where checkpointing an object captures all CkPntObj attributes and checks a suspended object in its present state into a CkPntObjMgr datastore, where said CkPntObjMgr holds this information, and waits for a next application service to check out said object and resume processing; a Resume() action that passes all checkpoint attributes for an identified checkpointed object to a calling object after first passing authorization rules to said calling object; and a Report() action that produces at least one report drawn from checkpoint object manager log/audit files and/or currently checkpointed data.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
70 words
A method for monitoring step-by-step progress of security administration within an electronic work flow, comprising the steps of: providing a checkpoint object that provides uniform characterization of milestone and/or transition states in administration activity, where object class definition is inherited by or refined to an administration activity object; and providing a checkpoint object manager that is instantiated as a trusted third party object which manages state progression of checkpoint objects.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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