Abstract
In a computer communication system, there exists a possibility of two or more users collaborating to derive a key to which they are not entitled. Therefore, a method for ensuring the system is necessary. In this paper, we propose an efficient heuristic algorithm for assigning cryptographic keys among a group of users organized in a tree structure. Comparing with the existing assignment schemes, our scheme always produces economic cryptographic keys, which are smaller than the keys generated by the previous work in a tree structure.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akl, S. G., and Taylor, P. D.,Cryptographic solutions to a problem of access control in a hierarchy. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems. Vol. 1, No. 3. pp. 239–247. August 1983.
Chang, C. C.,On the design of a key-lock-pair mechanism in information protection systems, BIT, Vol. 26, pp. 410–417, 1986.
Chang, C. C.,An information protection system scheme based upon number theory. The Computer Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 249–253, 1987.
Chang, C. C.,On the implementation of user hierarchy structure in information systems. Proceedings of International Conference on Computer Software and Applications, IEEE, pp. 412–415, Tokyo, Japan, October 1987.
Conway, R. W., Maxwell, W. L. and Morgan, H. L.,On the implementation of security measures in information systems, Communication of ACM, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 211–220, 1972.
Harn, L., and Lin, H. Y.,A cryptographic key generation scheme for multilevel data security, Computers & Security. Vol. 9, pp. 539–546, 1990.
Graham, G. S. and Denning, P. L.,Protection-principles and practices, proc. Spring Jt. Computer Conference, Vol. 40, pp. 417–429, AFIPS Press, Montvale, N. J., 1972.
Gudes, E.,The design of a cryptography-based secure file system, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, SE-6, No. 5, pp. 411–419, September 1980.
Horowitz, E. and Sanni, S.,Fundamentals of Data Structures, Computer Science Press, Rockville, MD.
Jan, J. K.,A single-key access control scheme in information protection systems, Information Sciences, Vol. 51, pp. 1–11, 1990.
Jan, J. K., Chang, C. C., and Wang, S. J.,A dynamic key-lock-pair access control scheme, Computers & Security, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 129–139, 1991.
Lin, C. H., Lee, R. C. T., and Chang, C. C.,A dynamic access control mechanism in information protection systems, Journal of Information Science and Engineering, Vol. 6, pp. 25–35, 1990.
Mackinon, S. T., Taylor, P. D., Meijer, H., and Akl, S. G.,An optimal algorithm for assigning cryptographic keys to control access in a hierarchy, IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. C-34, No. 9, pp. 797–802, September 1985.
Saltzer, J. H. and Schroeder, M. D.,The protection of information in computer systems, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 63, pp. 1278–1308, September 1975.
Wu, M. L. and Hwang, T. Y.,Access control with single-key-lock, IEEE Transactions On Software Engineering, Vol. SE-10, No. 2, pp. 185–191, March 1984.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported in part by the National Science Council of the Republic of China under the grant NSC 81-0416-E-002-20.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liaw, HT., Lei, CL. An optimal algorithm to assign cryptographic keys in a tree structure for access control. BIT 33, 46–56 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01990342
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01990342