How role based access control is implemented in SESAME

The authors share their experiences with implementing a scheme that enforces role-based access control in a distributed heterogeneous computing environment. This work was done in the framework of the EC RACE project SESAME (Secure European System in A Multivendor Environment). The SESAME project relies on the work done by ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) to represent the credentials of the users, and it fully supports a GSS (group support system) API to help the application developers. We conclude that enforcing such a scheme is realistic and that writing applications that benefit from the advantages of role-based access control is very feasible. We have built several demonstration applications.