Mandatory Access Control Policy (MAC)

Related Concepts

Access Control Policies, Models, and Mechanisms; Mandatory Access Control

Definition

Mandatory access control policies (MACs) control access based on mandated regulations determined by a central authority.

Theory

With a mandatory access control policy, access decisions are made by a central authority [1]. The most common form of mandatory policy is the multilevel security policy , based on the classifications of subjects and objects in the system. Objects are passive entities storing information. Subjects are active entities that request access to the objects. Note that there is a distinction between subjects of the mandatory policy and the authorization subjects considered in the discretionary policies. While authorization subjects typically correspond to users (or groups thereof), mandatory policies make a distinction between users and subjects. Users are human beings who can access the system, while subjects are processes (i.e., programs in execution) operating on...