Method and Apparatus for Creating Custom Access Control Hierarchies

An apparatus for responding to an entity attempting to access a resource, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory connected to the processor;
• an view processor component of IBM's WEBSPHERE Virtual Member Manager running in the memory;
• a data repository in the memory;
• a resource in the data repository;
• a custom access controller program in the memory operable to:
• retrieve a delegated administration path describing the location of a resource in a custom organizational hierarchy;
• identify a security policy for the resource;
• identify a security policy for an entity attempting to access the resource;
• apply the security policy of the entity to the delegated administration path and security policy of the resource;
• and
• send the delegated administration path with the applied security policies to an authorization engine, so that access to the resource can be granted or denied.

A computer readable memory containing a plurality of instructions to cause a computer respond to an entity attempting to access a resource using a view processor component of IBM's WEBSPHERE Virtual Member Manager, the plurality of instructions comprising:

• a first instruction to retrieve a delegated administration path describing the location of a resource in the organizational hierarchy;
• a second instruction to identify a security policy for the resource;
• a third instruction to identify a security policy for an entity attempting to access the resource;
• a fourth instruction to apply the security policy of the entity to the delegated administration path and security policy of the resource;
• and
• a fifth instruction to send the delegated administration path with the applied security policies to an authorization engine, so that access to the resource can be granted or denied.