Safeguard Reference Manual (G06.24+, H06.03+ )

Safeguard Reference Manual—520618-013
8-1
8 Disk-File Security Commands
The SAFECOM disk file security commands give disk-file owners access control of
protected disk files and the ability to specify when to audit attempts to access and
manage the authorization records for these files.
By default, only the disk file’s owner, the owner’s group manager, or the super ID can
add a Safeguard authorization record unless a list of users is specified by the
OBJECTTYPE DISKFILE. (For more information, see Section 12, OBJECTTYPE
Security Commands.) After a record is added, all attempts to access that file are
subject to a Safeguard authorization check and optionally to Safeguard auditing.
Access to a disk file includes all the standard Guardian access modes: READ, WRITE,
EXECUTE, and PURGE. The Safeguard software also supports two additional access
authorities: CREATE and OWNER.
Ownership is transferable at the discretion of the initial owner to any user ID or group.
Also, owners can create and modify an access control list (ACL) for the file. The ACL
selectively grants or denies access to the file.
This section describes disk-file ownership and disk-file authorization records and then
summarizes the DISKFILE and DISKFILE-PATTERN security commands. A detailed
description of each command follows the command summary.
Disk-File Ownership
The owner ID associated with the disk file indicates who owns the file. When a disk file
is created, the owner ID is set to that of the user ID of the file creator, and the file is
protected by the standard Guardian security system.
To place a file under Safeguard control, the file owner (or another properly authorized
user) creates a disk-file authorization record through the ADD DISKFILE command. A
file can also be placed automatically under Safeguard control through the use of a
default protection record. For more information, see Section 5, User Security
Commands. In each disk file authorization record, the file owner is identified by the
user ID stored as the OWNER attribute. The owner identified in this manner is known
as the file’s primary owner.
The file’s primary owner, the owner’s group manager, or the super ID can transfer
ownership of the file to another user through the ALTER DISKFILE command.
Additional ownership is defined by the OWNER authority code for ACL entries and is
an independent extension of the initial owner. Any user with OWNER authority on the
ACL can manage the file’s authorization record by altering, freezing, thawing, or
deleting it. This feature allows multiple groups or individuals to administer the security
of a particular file.
Any user with OWNER authority on the ACL can explicitly deny a local super ID any of
the authorities (including OWNER) implicitly granted to that user ID and have this
denial actively enforced all of the time.