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It looks like the NSA is using RBAC in some form, but with a big gaping hole that Snowden just walked right through. Log in as a user and you get "Hotel Califo
by betterunix 13y ago
It looks like the NSA is using RBAC in some form, but with a big gaping hole that Snowden just walked right through. Log in as a user and you get "Hotel California" security -- you cannot escape your role. Log in as an administrator and you are not confined to any role and can just walk all over everything.
Another possibility is that Snowden had the ability to create login credentials and just gave himself the ability to log in as another user.
- stcredzero 13y ago> It looks like the NSA is using RBAC in some form, but with a big gaping hole that Snowden just walked right through. Presenting that as "impersonation" to the general public is deceptive, regardless of whether it is intended to be or not.
- AsymetricCom 13y agodeception is what Snowden used to gain roles he couldn't have otherwise. It perfectly fits the definition of impersonation. By using someone else's credentials he broke the separation of duty enforcement of the RBAC model, thus he could probably escalate his privileges once he had that access. The superior who gave out his credentials probably didn't comprehend RBAC and thought he was just cutting out some red tape to chase down terrorists.
- stcredzero 13y agoI thought that Snowden's whole point was that, "cutting out some red tape to chase down terrorists" could also enable bad actors in the agency to do bad things.
- AsymetricCom 13y ago>Another possibility is that Snowden had the ability to create login credentials and just gave himself the ability to log in as another user. This is called "seperation of duties" and it's covered in the RBAC security model.