Capability-based protection for integral object-oriented systems

Abstract

Protection is an essential issue for the heterogeneous distributed interoperable environments, which Java and CORBA are a glimpse of. A uniform protection mechanism such as capabilities integrated with the object model of the system is a good and flexible solution for these environments. Oviedo3 is an example of an integral object oriented system (IOOS) based solely on the OO paradigm, developed over an OO abstract machine (OOAM) and OO operating system (OOOS). When integrated with the object model of the abstract machine, capabilities gain new advantages such as automatic protection. Capabilities also allow more flexible security policies. Existing platforms such as Java, without a uniform protection mechanism, could be made more suitable for these new environments by applying these benefits.