USING AGENTS FOR SECURE ACCESS TO DATA IN THE INTERNET

Relatively few databases are accessible over the Internet. With today' s technology one would like to encapsulate a database and make it avai lable over the Internet. A client using such databases would browse an old census database, look up references in an object-oriented databas e system, access descriptions and pictures over the Internet, or combi ne different information using NCSA Mosaic, Web, or backend databases. This article describes our experiences within the context of the DOK (Distributed Object Kernel) [1]. This project aims to design a secure database middleware that enables users to effectively search, update, and combine information in distributed, heterogeneous environments. Th e DOK system uses security agents to maintain a DOK federation in a se cure state. Different types of security agents are involved in the enf orcement of security policies. Coordination agents are responsible for managing the whole federation, and delegate functions to more specifi c agents, called task agents. By delegating the access to information of local databases to database agents, task agents are able to control any access to a federation by using specifically designed security pr ocedures.