cache security- the basics

Cache Security 1

Katherine Reid, Mike Moulckers

Goals

• Understand Cache security model

• How to apply it to a simple web application

Academy Agenda

• Introduction

• Authentication

• Authorization

• Auditing

Configuration Details

• Username and Password:

– User: Admin

– Password: academy

Introduction

Security Components

1. Authentication

2. Authorization

3. Auditing

Security Configuration At Install

• Determines the initial configuration settings for Caché Services and Security

• Changes:

– System-wide settings

– User accounts

– Service properties

Minimal

Normal

Locked Down

System Management Portal

• Portal redesigned for 2011.1– Granular security

System wide settings

Exercise 1: Password Validation

• Test password validation and explore examples of what it can be used for.

Demo: ZEN Application

Exercise 2: Creating a User

• Create a user to use in the Inventory application.

User Profile

Authentication

Authentication

What is authentication?

Authentication Methods

• Unauthenticated

• Password

• Operating System

• LDAP

• Delegated Authentication

• Kerberos

Unauthenticated

• No username or password required.

• Always logged in as ‘UnknownUser’.

Cache Password Authentication

• Simple

• Easy to set up for a single instance

• User data stored in local instance

OS Authentication

• User identified to Caché by OS user identity

• User authenticates to the OS using the native mechanism

• Only available for server-side processes

– Terminal

LDAP

• Already in use at many sites.

• Allows centralized user storage.

Delegated

• User-defined authentication mechanism

• Re-use existing custom/legacy authentication code for new, modern applications.

• Code is in the ZAUTHENTICATE routine.

• The authentication code can be any user-defined:

• Caché ObjectScript

• Embedded SQL

• Class Method(s)

• $ZF callout code.

Kerberos

• Most secure authentication type.

• Used by Windows.

• Requires a Kerberos Domain Controller

– eg, Windows Domain Controller

Services

Service Detail

Authentication Options

Exercise 3: Authentication Types

• Change the authentication types allowed in the Inventory application to make users have to provide a username and password to log in.

Authorization

Authorization

What is authorization?

Terminology

• Asset: something that is protected:

– A Caché database

– Caché SQL connection

– Ability to perform a backup

Terminology

• Resource: something which protects an asset:

– Database Resource (i.e. %DB_Samples)

– Administrative Resource (i.e. %Admin_Manage)

– Development Resource (i.e. %Development)

– Service Resource (i.e. %Service_CSP)

– User Defined

Terminology

• Permission: allows you to perform an action

– Read (R): View (but not change) the contents of a resource

– Write (W): View or change the contents of a resource

– Use (U): Use a resource, such as an Application or Service

Terminology

• Privilege: grants permission to do something with a resourceprotecting one or more assets

– A privilege is written as a resource name followed by a permissionseparated by a colon:

Example: %DB_SAMPLES:Read

More about Privileges…

• Privileges can be made Public.

• Effectively, this is equivalent to all users holding that privilege

– Example: if the %Service_CacheDirect:Use privilege is Public, then

any user can connect to Caché using the Caché Direct technology

• Caché provides a function to check on privileges held by the current process:

– $SYSTEM.Security.Check(Resource,Permission)

Exercise 4: Public Resource

• We've decided that all authenticated users of our system should be allowed to run this application. We will make the database which holds the code publicly readable so that everyone can run it.

Roles

• Role: a named collection of privileges

– Multiple users typically need the same set of privileges.

– Sets of privileges can be defined once and shared.

– Privileges are only assigned to roles.

– Privileges are not assigned directly to users.

– A user can have more than one role.

Exercise 5: Roles and Resources

• We will add code to our Inventory application to individually control access to the functions in the application, and create roles and resources to allow users to access them

Three ways to get Roles...

• At user login

• Granted by an application

• Code stored in CACHESYS can set $Roles

Application Roles

• Everyone running the application gets application roles

Exercise 6: Application Roles

• Instead of having database access in the roles, we will have the application give this to users. The application will control access to the database.

Matching Roles

• Only the users who have the first role get the second role.

Exercise 7: Matching Roles

• We may not want all users to be able to access all the data on entering the application. Demonstrate how matching roles can be assigned to selected users.

Granular Security in the SMP

Granular Security in the SMP

Exercise 8: Granular Security in the SMP

• Demonstrate the new granular security in the System Management Portal

Auditing

Why Audit?

• Allows monitoring of system

• Deterrent

What events are audited?

• System defined events

• User defined events

Where is it kept?

• Audit data is stored in a database called CACHEAUDIT.

• Protected by the %DB_CACHEAUDIT resource.

– No user should have access to this resource directly.

• View via SMP, terminal utilities, SQL, APIs, etc.

Exercise 9: Viewing the Audit Log

• We demonstrate using the audit log to see what has happened on the system.

What’s in an audit record?

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