Increasing Information Security with Mandatory Access Controls in the Operating System

Access control is a fundamental problem in all businesses and controlling access to computer and network resources is fundamental to information security. The distributed nature of the Internet makes complete and centralized control impossible, especially if there is a desire to have the security measures appear as seamless to the user as possible. Many layers of protection exist and each layer protects against different threats but with multiple vulnerabilities reported each day it is impossible to protect against all threats. The next best thing is to contain the attacks. One method of containing attacks is the use of mandatory access controls, not only in applications, but also in the operating system. The information provided in this paper should cut through the confusion associated with the many security solutions and assist in the development of an access control policy