Access Control and Authorization Constraints for WS-BPEL

Computerized workflow systems have attracted considerable research interest. More recently, there have been several XML-based languages proposed for specifying and orchestrating business processes, culminating in WS-BPEL. A significant omission from WS-BPEL is the ability to specify authorization information associating users with activities in the business process and authorization constraints on the execution of activities such as separation of duty. In this paper, we address these deficiencies by developing the RBAC-WS-BPEL and BPCL languages. The first of these provides for the specification of authorization information associated with a business process specified in WS-BPEL, while BPCL provides for the articulation of authorization constraint