Dynamic role assignment based on X.509 PMI mechanism for mobile agent systems

Unauthorized access of malicious entities to agent systems is becoming a serious threat to agent-based communications. An X.509 attribute certificate-based access control mechanism for mobile agent systems is given. Authorization policies of this access control can be dynamically adapted to the constantly evolving threats from computer systems and networks. The Privilege Management Infrastructure (PMI) based on X.509 standard provides an interoperability solution among varied agent platform by utilizing external authorization data structure, namely, attribute certificate fields. A role-based access control (RBAC) mechanism for agent systems based on attribute certificates is designed.