Modeling Role-Based Access Control Using Parameterized UML Models

Organizations use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to protect computer-based resources from unauthorized access. There has been considerable work on formally specifying RBAC policies but there is still a need for RBAC policy specification techniques that can be integrated into software design methods. This paper describes a method for incorporating specifications of RBAC policies into UML design models. Reusable RBAC policies are specified as patterns and are expressed using UML template diagrams. Incorporating RBAC policies into an application specific model involves instantiating the patterns and composing the instantiations with the model. The method also includes a technique for specifying patterns of RBAC violations. Developers can use the patterns to identify policy violations in their models. The method is illustrated using a small banking application.