Multilevel Security Using Aspect Oriented Programming AspectJ

Multilevel security (MLS) is the application of a computer system to process information with different sensitivities (i.e., at different security levels), permit simultaneous access by users with different security clearances and needs-to-know, and prevent users from obtaining access to information for which they lack authorization. Multilevel Security (MLS) system is intended to prevent users from declassifying information. Using an object-oriented approach to implementing security in an application results not only with the problem of code scattering and code tangling, but also results in weaker enforcement of security concern. An aspect-oriented approach is advocated as an improvement to the object oriented approach in dealing with the issues of code tangling and scattering. The reason for this weaker enforcement of security could be due to the inherent design of the system or because of a programming error. In this paper, we discuss implementation of case study using Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) AspectJ BLP access control policy for improved modularity and maintainability of MLS.