The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 20, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 11, 1996
Asit Dan, West Harrison, NY (US);
Rajiv Ramaswami, Ossining, NY (US);
Dinkar Sitaram, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A form of authentication is provided wherein a trusted third party signs a certificate to identify the author of a program and to secure its integrity. The program code is encapsulated or otherwise associated with the certificate and an access control list (ACL). The access control list describes the permissions and resources required by the code. An enforcement mechanism which allocates system permissions and resources in accordance with the ACL. In a preferred embodiment, a code production system communicates with a certification agency, which is a trusted third party. The certification agency issues a certificate for the code and a certificate for the access list of that code. Once the certificate is issued it is not possible for any party to modify the code or access list without invalidating the certificate. The code and its ACL, along with their certificates are stored on a server. A client downloading the code or access list can verify the integrity of the code/access list and the system can enforce the access list such that the permissions and resources are not exceeded.