Providing Compartmentalized Security in Product Reviews

• US 20110313751A1
• Filed: 06/17/2010
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Betzler, Boas, Deffeyes, Suzanne C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,521,503 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database

Abstract

A mechanism is provided for providing compartmentalized security in product reviews. A central authoritative state module within a compartmentalized security mechanism identifies a clearance level associated with a user that has been authenticated. Responsive to the clearance level of the user being sufficient to access the information, the central authoritative state module determines whether the information requires a simulation to be executed. Responsive to the information failing to require execution of a simulation, a coordination module in the compartmentalized security mechanism retrieves the information. A display and input interaction module on a client system then displays the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user thereby forming displayed information. Displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user has access to.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for providing compartmentalized security in product reviews, the method comprising:

identifying, by the central authoritative state module within a compartmentalized security mechanism, a clearance level associated with a user that has been authenticated;

determining, by the central authoritative state module, whether the clearance level of the user is sufficient to access the information associated with a product;

responsive to the clearance level of the user being sufficient to access the information, determining, by the central authoritative state module, whether the information requires a simulation to be executed;

responsive to the information failing to require execution of a simulation, retrieving, by a coordination module in the compartmentalized security mechanism, the information; and

displaying, by a display and input interaction module on a client system, the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user thereby forming displayed information, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user has access to.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user further comprises displaying a deemphasized view of the entire product in conjunction with the detail of the portions of the information that the user has access to in order to provide context to the objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is displayed on multiple client systems as part of a collaborative meeting and wherein each client system in the multiple client systems displays the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user of that client system which comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user of the client system has access to.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the information requiring execution of a simulation, retrieving, by the coordination module, a plurality of compartments associated with the product;

identifying, by a compartment selector within the compartmentalized security mechanism, a plurality of objects associated with each of the plurality of compartments;

executing, by a simulation runtime module, the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments or the plurality of objects thereby generating first simulation results; and

displaying, by the display and input interaction module on the client system, the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the first simulation results of the product that the user has access to.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of compartments or the plurality of objects is required to register with a simulation dispatcher prior to the simulation runtime module executing the simulation.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the simulation runtime module resides in at least one of the compartmentalized security mechanisms or in the client system.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining, by the central authoritative state module, whether a plurality of alternate compartment descriptions are required based on the clearance level of the user;

responsive to the plurality of alternate compartment descriptions being required, generating, by an alternative compartment generator within the compartmentalized security mechanism, the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions;

executing, by the simulation runtime module, the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments, the plurality of objects, or the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions thereby generating second simulation results; and

displaying, by the display and input interaction module on the client system, the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the second simulation results of the product that the user has access to, wherein each of the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions is required to register with a simulation dispatcher prior to the simulation runtime module executing the simulation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is at least one of an object or a plurality of objects and wherein the object or the plurality of objects comprise at least one of a spatial description, associated textures, artwork, metadata, or policy information that dictates a level of access for different types of users based on the credentials of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a local simulation dispatcher on the client system, a detail request for detailed information associated with the displayed information;

determining, by the local simulation dispatcher, whether the detailed information resides within a local storage of the client system; and

responsive to the detailed information residing in the local storage, displaying, by the display and input interaction module, the detailed information, wherein the detailed information is displayed either in a pop-up display box, in another window, or as part of the displayed information.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

responsive to the detailed information failing to reside in the local storage, determining, by the central authoritative state module, whether the user has access to the detailed information;

responsive to the user having access to the detailed information, retrieving, by the coordination module, the detailed information; and

sending, by the central authoritative state module, the detailed information to the client system for display.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

identify a clearance level associated with a user that has been authenticated;

determine whether the clearance level of the user is sufficient to access the information associated with a product;

responsive to the clearance level of the user being sufficient to access the information, determine whether the information requires a simulation to be executed;

responsive to the information failing to require execution of a simulation, retrieve the information; and

displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user thereby forming displayed information, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user has access to.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user further comprises displaying a deemphasized view of the entire product in conjunction with the detail of the portions of the information that the user has access to in order to provide context to the objects.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the information is displayed on multiple client systems as part of a collaborative meeting and wherein each client system in the multiple client systems displays the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user of that client system which comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user of the client system has access to.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

responsive to the information requiring execution of a simulation, retrieve a plurality of compartments associated with the product;

identify a plurality of objects associated with each of the plurality of compartments;

execute the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments or the plurality of objects thereby generating first simulation results; and

display the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the first simulation results of the product that the user has access to.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

determine whether a plurality of alternate compartment descriptions are required based on the clearance level of the user;

responsive to the plurality of alternate compartment descriptions being required, generate the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions;

execute the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments, the plurality of objects, or the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions thereby generating second simulation results; and

display the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the second simulation results of the product that the user has access to, wherein each of the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions is required to register with a simulation dispatcher prior to the simulation runtime module executing the simulation.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

identify a clearance level associated with a user that has been authenticated;

determine whether the clearance level of the user is sufficient to access the information associated with a product;

responsive to the clearance level of the user being sufficient to access the information, determine whether the information requires a simulation to be executed;

responsive to the information failing to require execution of a simulation, retrieve the information; and

display the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user thereby forming displayed information, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user has access to.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein displaying the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user further comprises displaying a deemphasized view of the entire product in conjunction with the detail of the portions of the information that the user has access to in order to provide context to the objects.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the information is displayed on multiple client systems as part of a collaborative meeting and wherein each client system in the multiple client systems displays the information in accordance with the clearance level of the user of that client system which comprises displaying in detail only portions of the information of the product that the user of the client system has access to.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

responsive to the information requiring execution of a simulation, retrieve a plurality of compartments associated with the product;

identify a plurality of objects associated with each of the plurality of compartments;

execute the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments or the plurality of objects thereby generating first simulation results; and

display the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the first simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the first simulation results of the product that the user has access to.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine whether a plurality of alternate compartment descriptions are required based on the clearance level of the user;

responsive to the plurality of alternate compartment descriptions being required, generate the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions;

execute the simulation using at least one of the plurality of compartments, the plurality of objects, or the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions thereby generating second simulation results; and

display the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user, wherein displaying the second simulation results in accordance with the clearance level of the user comprises displaying in detail only portions of the second simulation results of the product that the user has access to, wherein each of the plurality of alternative compartment descriptions is required to register with a simulation dispatcher prior to the simulation runtime module executing the simulation.