Adaptive security system having a hierarchy of security servers

A security system for controlling access to a plurality of resources within a computing environment comprising:

• a plurality of security servers, wherein each security server includes a set of security associations;
• and
• an enforcement mechanism communicatively coupled to the plurality of security servers, wherein the enforcement mechanism enforces a request to access one of the plurality of resources by querying one of the security servers, wherein the enforcement mechanism includes an operating system kernel having a task control block for each of a plurality of tasks executing in the computing environment, wherein the enforcement mechanism queries a primary security server identified in the task control block of the corresponding task, wherein each primary security server is a task executing within the computing environment, wherein the task control block of each primary security server identifies a parent security server for resolving resource requests that the primary security server is unable to resolve, wherein each security server includes a data structure defining an execution period, wherein the kernel terminates a security server by identifying the tasks that have the terminated security server as a primary security server, and further wherein the kernel sets the primary security server of each identified task to the parent security server of the terminated security server.

A method for controlling access to a plurality of resources in a computing environment comprising the steps of:

• receiving a user request to access one of the resources of the computing environment;
• querying at least one of a plurality of security servers to resolve the resource request based on a set of security associations;
• and
• enforcing the request as a function of a response from the queried security server.

A method for controlling access to a plurality of resources in a computing environment that includes an operating system kernel having a task control block for each of a plurality of tasks executing in the computing environment, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a user request to access one of the resources of the computing environment;
• querying at least one of a plurality of security servers to resolve the resource request based on a set of security associations, wherein each security server is a task executing within the computing environment, wherein the querying step includes the steps of:
• examining the task control block to determine a primary security server for a task requesting one of the resources;
• querying the primary security server to resolve the resource request;
• and
• when the primary security server is unable to resolve the resource request,
• identifying a parent security server identified in the task control block of the primary security server;
• and
• querying the parent security server to resolve the resource request;
• enforcing the request as a function of a response from the queried security server;
• creating a security server upon receiving a first command from one of the tasks;
• and
• terminating a security server upon receiving a second command from one of the tasks.

A method for controlling access to a plurality of resources in a computing environment comprising the steps of:

• receiving a user request to access one of the resources of the computing environment;
• querying at least one of a plurality of security servers to resolve the resource request based on a set of security associations, wherein the querying step includes the step of selecting the response from the set of:
• (I) access granted, (ii) access denied and (iii) security fault;
• and
• enforcing the request as a function of a response from the queried security server.