User access to objects in group based access control based on result of greatest common divisor of assigned unique prime numbers of user and object

A method for controlling access to objects, comprising the steps of:

• for each of a plurality of access groups to which one or more users are assigned, associating each access group's group number with a unique prime number;
• assigning each user a user number that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• assigning each object an object number that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• permitting a given user to access a given object if a numerical computation derived from the given user's user number and the given object's object number is a predetermined value.

A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a group based access control mechanism wherein each of a plurality of access control groups has an associated group number and a set of one or more users assigned thereto, the computer program product comprising:

• means for associating each group's group number with a unique prime number greater than one;
• means for assigning each user a user number that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• means for assigning each object an object number that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• and
• means for determining a greatest common divisor of a given user's user number and a given object's object number to determine whether the given user may access the given object.

In a group based access control mechanism wherein each of a plurality of access control groups has an associated group number and a set of one or more users assigned thereto, the improvement comprising:

• means for associating each group's group number with a unique prime number greater than one;
• means for assigning each user a user number that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• means for assigning each object an object number that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• and
• means for evaluating a greatest common divisor of a given user's user number and a given object's object number to determine whether the given user may access the given object.

A group based access control mechanism wherein each of a plurality of access control groups has an associated group number and a set of one or more users assigned thereto, comprising:

• means for associating each group's group number with a unique prime number greater than one;
• means for assigning each user a user number that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• means for assigning each object an object number that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• means for evaluating a greatest common divisor of a given user's user number and a given object's object number;
• and
• means for permitting the given user to access the given object if the greatest common divisor is greater than a predetermined value indicating that the user number and the object number have no common factors.

A method for managing a group, comprising the steps of:

• for each of a plurality of access groups to which one or more users are assigned, associating each access group's group number with a unique prime number PGi;
• assigning each user a number MUi that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• assigning each object Oi a number MOi—A that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• determining whether a given user Ui belongs to a given group Gi by testing if PGi divides MUi.

A method of managing a group, comprising the steps of:

• for each of a plurality of access groups to which one or more users are assigned, associating each access group's group number with a unique prime number PGi;
• assigning each user a number MUi that is a product of the group numbers for the groups to which the user is assigned;
• assigning each object a number MOi—A that is a product of the group numbers of the groups having access to the object;
• determining whether an object Oi can be accessed with an operation by a group Gi by testing if PGi divides MOi—A.