1. Mandatory Access Control

2. Multilevel Security (MLS)
MLS needed when subjects/objects at different levels access the same system
MLS is a form of Access Control
Military and Government interest in MLS for many decades
Lots of research into MLS
Strengths and weaknesses of MLS well understood (almost entirely theoretical)
Many possible uses of MLS outside military

3. MLS Applications Classified Government/Military systems
Business example: info restricted to
Senior Management only,
All Management,
Everyone in company, or
General public
Network firewall
Confidential medical info, databases, etc.
Usually, MLS are not really a technical system
More like part of a legal structure

4. MLS Security Models MLS models explain what needs to be done
Models do not tell you how to implement
Models are descriptive, not prescriptive
That is, high-level description, not an algorithm
There are many MLS models
We’ll discuss simplest MLS model
Other models are more complex, more difficult to enforce, harder to verify, etc.

5. 1. Bell-LaPadula (BLP)
BLP security model designed to express essential requirements for MLS
Captures the minimal requirements with respect to the Confidentiality.
BLP deals with Confidentiality
To prevent unauthorized reading
Let’s assume that O is an object, S is a subject
Object O has a Classification
Subject S has a Clearance
Security level denoted L(O) and L(S)

6. Bell-LaPadula BLP consists of No read up, no write down
Simple Security Condition:
S can read O if and only if (iff) L(O)  L(S)
*-Property (Star Property):
S can write O if and only if (iff) L(S)  L(O)
No read up, no write down

7. Bell-LaPadula: Basics
Mandatory access control
Entities are assigned security levels
Subject has security clearance L(S) = ls
Object has security classification L(O) = lo
Simplest case: Security levels are arranged in a linear order li < li+1
Example
Top Secret > Secret > Confidential >Unclassified

8. “No Read Up” Information is allowed to flow up, not down
Simple security property:
S can read O if and only if
lo ≤ ls and
S has discretionary (available for use) read access to O
Combines mandatory (security levels) and discretionary (permission required)
Prevents subjects from reading objects at higher levels (No Read Up Rule)

9. “No Write Down” Information is allowed to flow up, not down *property
S can write O if and only if
ls ≤ lo and
S has write access to O
Combines mandatory (security levels) and discretionary (permission required)
Prevents subjects from writing to objects at lower levels (No Write Down Rule)

10. Example Remember: No read up, no write down security level subject
object
Top Secret
Tamara
Personnel Files
Secret
Samuel
Files
Confidential
Claire
Activity Logs
Unclassified
Ulaley
Telephone Lists
Tamara can read which objects? And she can write?
Claire cannot read which objects? And she cannot write?
Ulaley can read which objects? And she can write?
Remember: No read up, no write down

11. BLP: The Bottom Line BLP is simple, probably too simple
BLP is one of the few security models that can be used to prove things about systems
BLP has inspired other security models
Most other models try to be more realistic
Other security models are more complex
Models difficult to analyze, apply in practice

12. Biba’s Model BLP for confidentiality, Biba for integrity
Biba is to prevent unauthorized writing
Biba is (in a sense) the dual of BLP
Integrity model
Suppose you trust the integrity of O1 but not O2
If object O includes O1 and O2 then you cannot trust the integrity of O
Integrity level of O is minimum of the integrity of any object in O
Low water mark principle for integrity
For confidentiality: we apply high water mark

13. Biba’s Integrity Policy Model
Based on Bell-LaPadula
Subject, Objects have
Integrity Levels with dominance relation
Higher levels
More reliable/trustworthy
More accurate

14. Biba
Let I(O) denote the integrity of object O and I(S) denote the integrity of subject S
Biba can be stated as
Write Access Rule: S can write O if and only if I(O)  I(S)
(otherwise O will be contaminated with the untrusted S)
Biba’s Model: S can read O if and only if I(S)  I(O)
(otherwise S will be contaminated with the untrusted O)
It is very restrictive, so it is often replaced with
Low Water Mark Policy: If S reads O, then I(S) = Min( I(S) , I(O) )

15. Biba’s model Strict Integrity Policy (dual of Bell-LaPadula)
Note: you may think of it as a military command
S can read O iff I(S) ≤ I(O) (No Read-Down)
Why?
S can write O iff I(O) ≤ I(S) (No Write-Up)

16. BLP vs. Biba BLP Biba l e v high low L(O2) L(O1) L(O) Confidentiality
I(O2)
I(O1)
I(O)
Biba
Integrity