Auditing authorization decisions

• US 8,225,378 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2010
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dillaway, Blair B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodarzi, Nasser
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABEDIN, SHANTO
• Application Number:
  US12/902,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20110030038A1
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1- 5, 726/14, 717/117, 713/155, 713/185
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect

Abstract

The auditing of authorization decisions is facilitated by integrating or coupling an audit policy to access control decisions. In an example implementation, an audit policy of an auditing scheme is coupled to a semantic framework of an access control scheme such that the audit policy is specified using at least a portion of the semantic framework. In another example implementation, audit policy rules include audit content rules that specify what audit information from any of the inputs, the outputs, or the internal data of authorization decisions is to be included in an audit record. In yet another example implementation, a semantic of an audit trigger rule comports with a semantic framework of an access request and of a logical evaluation for an authorization decision.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

memory and a processor;

an auditing scheme module, stored in the memory and executable on the processor; and

an access control scheme module, stored in the memory and executable on the processor, that is integrated with the auditing scheme module, wherein

the access control scheme module makes authorization decisions in response to access requests for resources, the authorization decisions including inputs, outputs, and internal data, and

the auditing scheme module includes an audit policy that comprises audit policy rules, the audit policy rules including audit content rules that;

specify what audit information from any of the inputs, the outputs, or the internal data is to be included in an audit record, and

specify logical deduction data used or produced during evaluation algorithms of the authorization decisions, the logical deduction data comprising proof graphs indicating respective logical chains of deductions that occur within the evaluation algorithms.

2. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the audit content rules utilize a semantic framework that is utilized by the access control scheme for making the authorization decisions.

3. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the audit content rules further specify inputs to the authorization decisions in terms of logical assertions.

4. The device as recited in claim 3, wherein the audit content rules further specify the internal data of the authorization decisions in terms of logical deductions derived from the logical assertions.

5. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the audit policy rules further include audit trigger rules that specify when the audit record is to be generated and added to an audit log.

6. The device as recited in claim 5, wherein the audit trigger rules further specify that the audit record is to be generated and added to the audit log responsive to access requests involving a particular authorization decision result, a particular targeted resource, a particular requested action, and/or a particular operation on a particular resource.

7. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory, communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to perform acts comprising;

receiving an access request for a resource by an access control scheme;

performing by the access control scheme, at least partly in response to the access request, an authorization decision for the resource, the authorization decision comprising inputs, outputs, and internal data;

specifying, by an auditing scheme, an audit policy comprising audit policy rules, the audit policy rules including audit content rules that specify what audit information from any of the inputs, the outputs, or the internal data is to be included in an audit record, and specify logical deduction data used or produced during an evaluation algorithm of the authorization decision, the logical deduction data comprising a proof graph indicating a logical chain of deductions that occur within the evaluation algorithm; and

recording, by the auditing scheme, the audit record based at least in part on the specified audit policy.

8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the audit content rules utilize a semantic framework that is utilized by the access control scheme for performing the authorization decision.

9. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the audit content rules further specify inputs to the authorization decision in terms of logical assertions.

10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the audit content rules further specify the internal data of the authorization decision in terms of logical deductions derived from the logical assertions.

11. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the audit policy rules further include audit trigger rules that specify when the audit record is to be generated and added to an audit log.

12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the audit trigger rules further specify that the audit record is to be generated and added to the audit log responsive to access requests involving a particular authorization decision result, a particular targeted resource, a particular requested action, and/or a particular operation on a particular resource.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

one or more processors executing following computer-readable instructions;

receiving an access request for a resource;

performing, at least partly in response to the access request, an authorization decision for the resource, the authorization decision comprising inputs, outputs, and internal data;

specifying, an audit policy comprising audit policy rules, the audit policy rules including audit content rules that specify what audit information from any of the inputs, the outputs, or the internal data is to be included in an audit record and specify logical deduction data used or produced during an evaluation algorithm of the authorization decision, wherein the logical deduction data comprises a proof graph indicating a logical chain of deductions that occur within the evaluation algorithm, and the audit content rules comprise a semantic framework; and

recording the audit record based at least in part on the specified audit policy.

14. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein the audit content rules specify inputs to the authorization decision in terms of logical assertions and internal data of the authorization decision in terms of logical deductions derived from the logical assertions.

15. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 13, wherein the audit policy rules further include audit trigger rules that specify when the audit record is to be generated and added to an audit log, and wherein the audit trigger rules further specify that the audit record is to be generated and added to the audit log responsive to access requests involving a particular authorization decision result, a particular targeted resource, a particular requested action, and/or a particular operation on a particular resource.