The Protection of Information in Computer Systems

The Protection of Information in Computer Systems is a 1975 seminal publication by Jerome Saltzer and Michael Schroeder about information security.[1][2] The paper emphasized that the primary concern of security measures should be the information on computers and not the computers itself.[3]

The Protection of Information in Computer Systems
Created1975
Author(s)
SubjectInformation security

It was published 10 years prior to Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria, commonly known as the Orange Book.[4]

Design principles

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The following design principles are laid out in the paper:

  • Economy of mechanism: Keep the design as simple and small as possible.
  • Fail-safe defaults: Base access decisions on permission rather than exclusion.
  • Complete mediation: Every access to every object must be checked for authority.
  • Open design: The design should not be secret.
  • Separation of privilege: Where feasible, a protection mechanism that requires two keys to unlock it is more robust and flexible than one that allows access to the presenter of only a single key.
  • Least privilege: Every program and every user of the system should operate using the least set of privileges necessary to complete the job.
  • Least common mechanism: Minimize the amount of mechanism common to more than one user and depended on by all users.
  • Psychological acceptability: It is essential that the human interface be designed for ease of use, so that users routinely and automatically apply the protection mechanisms correctly.
  • Work factor: Compare the cost of circumventing the mechanism with the resources of a potential attacker.
  • Compromise recording: It is sometimes suggested that mechanisms that reliably record that a compromise of information has occurred can be used in place of more elaborate mechanisms that completely prevent loss.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Smith, Richard E. (November 2012). "A Contemporary Look at Saltzer and Schroeder's 1975 Design Principles". IEEE Security & Privacy. 10 (6): 20–25. doi:10.1109/MSP.2012.85. ISSN 1540-7993. S2CID 13371996.
  2. ^ Seeley, Nicholas. "Seminal Papers in Cybersecurity: A Review (Part 2 of 2)". Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  3. ^ Samonas, Spyridon; Coss, David (2014). "The CIA Strikes Back: Redefining Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability in Security". Journal of Information Systems Security. 10 (3): 21–45.
  4. ^ Smith, Sean; Marchesini, John (2007). The Craft of System Security. Pearson Education. ISBN 9780132797542.
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