Towards security labelling

Security labels are applied for numerous reasons, including the handling of data communicated between open systems. The information contained within a security label can be utilised to perform access control decisions, specify protective measure, and aid in the determination of additional handling restrictions required by a communications security policy. This paper concerns the issues regarding security labelling in open systems. We propose a security labelling framework for such systems; and further, based on this framework, we develop a mechanically checkable model for security labelling systems and discuss its implementation issues. This model provides a functional base for future design and implementation of security labelling systems.