Developing secure data warehouses with a UML extension

Data Warehouses (DWs), Multidimensional (MD) Databases, and On-Line Analytical Processing Applications are used as a very powerful mechanism for discovering crucial business information. Considering the extreme importance of the information managed by these kinds of applications, it is essential to specify security measures from the early stages of the DW design in the MD modeling process, and enforce them. In the past years, some proposals for representing main MD modeling properties at the conceptual level have been stated. Nevertheless, none of these proposals considers security issues as an important element in its model, so they do not allow us to specify confidentiality constraints to be enforced by the applications that will use these MD models. In this paper, we will discuss the specific confidentiality problems regarding DWs as well as present an extension of the Unified Modeling Language for specifying security constraints in the conceptual MD modeling, thereby allowing us to design secure DWs. One key advantage of our approach is that we accomplish the conceptual modeling of secure DWs independently of the target platform where the DW has to be implemented, allowing the implementation of the corresponding DWs on any secure commercial database management system. Finally, we will present a case study to show how a conceptual model designed with our approach can be directly implemented on top of Oracle 10g.     

An architecture for automatically developing secure OLAP applications from models

ContextDecision makers query enterprise information stored in Data Warehouses (DW) by using tools (such as On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools) which use specific views or cubes from the corporate DW or Data Marts, based on the multidimensional modeling. Since the information managed is critical, security constraints have to be correctly established in order to avoid unauthorized accesses.ObjectiveIn previous work we have defined a Model-Driven based approach for developing a secure DWs repository by following a relational approach. Nevertheless, is also important to define security constraints in the metadata layer that connects the DWs repository with the OLAP tools, that is, over the same multidimensional structures that final users manage. This paper defines a proposal to develop secure OLAP applications and incorporates it into our previous approach.MethodOur proposal is composed of models and transformations. Our models have been defined using the extension capabilities from UML (conceptual model) and extending the OLAP package of CWM with security (logical model). Transformations have been defined by using a graphical notation and implemented into QVT and MOFScript. Finally, this proposal has been evaluated through case studies.ResultsA complete MDA architecture for developing secure OLAP applications. The main contributions of this paper are: improvement of a UML profile for conceptual modeling; definition of a logical metamodel for OLAP applications; and definition and implementation of transformations from conceptual to logical models, and from logical models to the secure implementation into a specific OLAP tool (SSAS).ConclusionOur proposal allows us to develop secure OLAP applications, providing a complete MDA architecture composed of several security models and automatic transformations towards the final secure implementation. Security aspects are early identified and fitted into a most robust solution that provides us a better information assurance and a saving of time in maintenance.     

A UML profile for multidimensional modeling in data warehouses

The multidimensional (MD) modeling, which is the foundation of data warehouses (DWs), MD databases, and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) applications, is based on several properties different from those in traditional database modeling. In the past few years, there have been some proposals, providing their own formal and graphical notations, for representing the main MD properties at the conceptual level. However, unfortunately none of them has been accepted as a standard for conceptual MD modeling.

In this paper, we present an extension of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) using a UML profile. This profile is defined by a set of stereotypes, constraints and tagged values to elegantly represent main MD properties at the conceptual level. We make use of the Object Constraint Language (OCL) to specify the constraints attached to the defined stereotypes, thereby avoiding an arbitrary use of these stereotypes. We have based our proposal in UML for two main reasons: (i) UML is a well known standard modeling language known by most database designers, thereby designers can avoid learning a new notation, and (ii) UML can be easily extended so that it can be tailored for a specific domain with concrete peculiarities such as the multidimensional modeling for data warehouses. Moreover, our proposal is Model Driven Architecture (MDA) compliant and we use the Query View Transformation (QVT) approach for an automatic generation of the implementation in a target platform. Throughout the paper, we will describe how to easily accomplish the MD modeling of DWs at the conceptual level. Finally, we show how to use our extension in Rational Rose for MD modeling.     

Designing secure databases

Security is an important issue that must be considered as a fundamental requirement in information systems development, and particularly in database design. Therefore security, as a further quality property of software, must be tackled at all stages of the development. The most extended secure database model is the multilevel model, which permits the classification of information according to its confidentiality, and considers mandatory access control. Nevertheless, the problem is that no database design methodologies that consider security (and therefore secure database models) across the entire life cycle, particularly at the earliest stages currently exist. Therefore it is not possible to design secure databases appropriately. Our aim is to solve this problem by proposing a methodology for the design of secure databases. In addition to this methodology, we have defined some models that allow us to include security information in the database model, and a constraint language to define security constraints. As a result, we can specify a fine-grained classification of the information, defining with a high degree of accuracy which properties each user has to own in order to be able to access each piece of information. The methodology consists of four stages: requirements gathering; database analysis; multilevel relational logical design; and specific logical design. The first three stages define activities to analyze and design a secure database, thus producing a general secure database model. The last stage is made up of activities that adapt the general secure data model to one of the most popular secure database management systems: Oracle9i Label Security. This methodology has been used in a genuine case by the Data Processing Center of Provincial Government. In order to support the methodology, we have implemented an extension of Rational Rose, including and managing security information and constraints in the first stages of the methodology.     

A methodological approach for hypermedia security modeling

In hypermedia systems security is becoming a key requirement to preserve both confidentiality and integrity. Although some authorization models for hypermedia have been proposed, what is needed is to integrate security modeling into the whole development process, so that designers count on methods to specify all the features of their hypermedia systems, including navigation capabilities, interactivity, multimedia features as well as security. In this paper, we describe how security modeling is approached in a methodology for hypermedia systems, called Ariadne, that offers a number of conceptual and platform-independent tools to specify the features of any hyperdocument in an integrated and progressive way.     

基于角色访问控制模型约束的OCL描述

基于角色的访问控制模型(RBAC)凭借其灵活的授权机制、强大的管理功能和完善的安全策略越来越引起人们的研究兴趣,随着研究的不断深入,面向对象的研究方法也逐渐应用到这个模型中,促进了它的迅速发展。UML作为一种强大的建模语言,不只是局限于支持面向对象的分析与设计,还支持从需求分析开始的软件开发的全过程,通过UML的描述可以使理论模型更加直观地应用到实际系统开发。该文使用UML的对象约束语言(OCL)来描述RBAC中的相关约束,使约束描述更加标准化,更有利于系统开发人员对模型的理解和促进RBAC模型的系统开发。     

Reconciling requirement-driven data warehouses with data sources via multidimensional normal forms

Successful data warehouse (DW) design needs to be based upon a requirement analysis phase in order to adequately represent the information needs of DW users. Moreover, since the DW integrates the information provided by data sources, it is also crucial to take these sources into account throughout the development process to obtain a consistent reconciliation of data sources and information needs. In this paper, we start by summarizing our approach to specify user requirements for data warehouses and to obtain a conceptual multidimensional model capturing these requirements. Then, we make use of the multidimensional normal forms to define a set of Query/View/Transformation (QVT) relations to assure that the conceptual multidimensional model obtained from user requirements agrees with the available data sources that will populate the DW. Thus, we propose a hybrid approach to develop DWs, i.e., we firstly obtain the conceptual multidimensional model of the DW from user requirements and then we verify and enforce its correctness against data sources by using a set of QVT relations based on multidimensional normal forms. Finally, we provide some snapshots of the CASE tool we have used to implement our QVT relations.     

Reconstructing a formal security model

Role-based access control (RBAC) is a flexible approach to access control, which has generated great interest in the security community. The principal motivation behind RBAC is to simplify the complexity of administrative tasks. Several formal models of RBAC have been introduced. However, there are a few works specifying RBAC in a way which system developers or software engineers can easily understand and adopt to develop role-based systems. And there still exists a demand to have a practical representation of well-known access control models for system developers who work on secure system development. In this paper we represent a well-known RBAC model with software engineering tools such as Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Object Constraints Language (OCL) to reduce a gap between security models and system developments. The UML is a general-purpose visual modeling language in which we can specify, visualize, and document the components of a software system. And OCL is part of the UML and has been used for object-oriented analysis and design as a de facto constraints specification language in software engineering arena. Our representation is based on a standard model for RBAC proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. We specify this RBAC model with UML including three views: static view, functional view, and dynamic view. We also describe how OCL can specify RBAC constraints that is one of important aspects to constrain what components in RBAC are allowed to do. In addition, we briefly discuss future directions of this work.     

Reconciling requirement-driven data warehouses with data sources via multidimensional normal forms

Successful data warehouse (DW) design needs to be based upon a requirement analysis phase in order to adequately represent the information needs of DW users. Moreover, since the DW integrates the information provided by data sources, it is also crucial to take these sources into account throughout the development process to obtain a consistent reconciliation of data sources and information needs. In this paper, we start by summarizing our approach to specify user requirements for data warehouses and to obtain a conceptual multidimensional model capturing these requirements. Then, we make use of the multidimensional normal forms to define a set of Query/View/Transformation (QVT) relations to assure that the conceptual multidimensional model obtained from user requirements agrees with the available data sources that will populate the DW. Thus, we propose a hybrid approach to develop DWs, i.e., we firstly obtain the conceptual multidimensional model of the DW from user requirements and then we verify and enforce its correctness against data sources by using a set of QVT relations based on multidimensional normal forms. Finally, we provide some snapshots of the CASE tool we have used to implement our QVT relations.     

A trace metamodel proposal based on the model driven architecture framework for the traceability of user requirements in data warehouses

The complexity of the data warehouse (DW) development process requires to follow a methodological approach in order to be successful. A widely accepted approach for this development is the hybrid one, in which requirements and data sources must be accommodated to a new DW model. The main problem is that we lose the relationships between requirements, elements in the multidimensional (MD) conceptual models and data sources in the process, since no traceability is explicitly specified. Therefore, this hurts requirements validation capability and increases the complexity of Extraction, Transformation and Loading processes. In this paper, we propose a novel trace metamodel for DWs and focus on the relationships between requirements and MD conceptual models. We propose a set of Query/View/Transformation rules to include traceability in DWs in an automatic way, allowing us to obtain a MD conceptual model of the DW, as well as a trace model. Therefore, we are able to trace every requirement to the MD elements, further increasing user satisfaction. Finally, we show the implementation in our Lucentia BI tool.     

A UML 2.0 profile to define security requirements for Data Warehouses

Many Data Warehouses (DWs) fail to provide the appropriate information because the users' requirements are not correctly modeled. In addition, the security requirements are considered in the final implementation, and do not take the users' necessities into consideration. However, as DWs store confidential and sensitive information, it is crucial to take security measures into account from early DW design phases, and to enforce them. This paper proposes a profile which uses the Unified Modeling Language (UML) extensibility mechanisms. This profile allows us to define security requirements for DWs at the business level, taking into account the information requirements modeled with a previous profile. Our proposal is aligned with Model Driven Architecture (MDA), thus permitting the transformation of security requirements throughout the entire DW life cycle. Finally, in order to show the benefits of our profile, we develop a case study related to the management of a pharmacy consortium business.     

A domain-specific language for context modeling in context-aware systems

Context-awareness refers to systems that can both sense and react based on their environment. One of the main difficulties that developers of context-aware systems must tackle is how to manage the needed context information. In this paper we present MLContext, a textual Domain-Specific Language (DSL) which is specially tailored for modeling context information. It has been implemented by applying Model-Driven Development (MDD) techniques to automatically generate software artifacts from context models. The MLContext abstract syntax has been defined as a metamodel, and model-to text transformations have been written to generate the desired software artifacts. The concrete syntax has been defined with the EMFText tool, which generates an editor and model injector.     

Using a trope-based foundational ontology for bridging different areas of concern in ontology-driven conceptual modeling

In recent years, ontology-driven reference models have gained much attention in the literature due to their potential key role in activities such as complex information modeling and semantic interoperability. The engineering process of these conceptual models should account for different phases addressing different areas of concern. In an initial phase of conceptual domain modeling, the target modeling artifacts should be constructed with the goal of maximizing quality attributes such as expressivity and truthfulness to the represented domain in reality. In a subsequent development phase, the resulting domain models can be used to guide the design decisions in the construction of different implementation artifacts addressing different computational concerns. In this paper, we present a philosophically sound, cognitively-oriented and formally characterized foundational theory of objects and tropes (property-instances). Moreover, we use this theory to bring about engineering contributions to both the aforementioned phases of ontology-driven conceptual modeling. Firstly, we show how this theory has been used to (re)design a system of modeling primitives underlying the conceptual domain modeling language OntoUML. Furthermore, we provide precise directives on how to map conceptual domain models in this language to their implementation in less-expressive computationally-oriented codification languages. In particular, we address here a mapping strategy to OWL (Web Ontology Language) that partially preserves the modal-temporal semantics of OntoUML. Finally, we discuss computational support for the proposed approach in terms of conceptual model construction, automatic transformation and temporal querying.     

The automatic creation of OLAP cube using an MDA approach

The Model‐Driven Architecture (MDA) is an approach that aligns modeling and automation for software development. By applying such an approach to data warehouse (DW) projects, we can minimize a great deal of time and cost. Furthermore, most of OnLine Analytical Processing (OLAP) platforms seem to be like black boxes that provide wizards only to business intelligence developers to create and manipulate OLAP objects without allowing their sustainability and migration from a platform to another. That is why many works in the literature have proposed using the MDA approach in DW projects. However, most of them have mainly focused on the generation of the DW relational model from the conceptual one, and they overlooked the OLAP model and the cube implementation. To deal with this problem, we propose in this paper an MDA solution to automate the process of getting OLAP cube and its implementation through a set of metamodels and automatic transformations among them. In fact, the proposal generates the OLAP and DW relational models (PSMs) from the conceptual one, using also a PDM model that describes the target business intelligence platform. After that, the source code to create the cube is got from both PSM models. For this aim, we define a set of transformation rules implemented using the Atlas transformation language. Finally, a case study will be provided to validate our approach.     

基于UML和模型检测的安全模型验证方法

安全策略的形式化分析与验证随着安全操作系统研究的不断深入已成为当前的研究热点之一.文中在总结前人工作的基础上,首次提出一种基于UML和模型检测器的安全模型验证方法.该方法采用UML将安全策略模型描述为状态机图和类图,然后利用转换工具将UML图转化为模型检测器的输入语言,最后由模型检测器来验证安全模型对于安全需求的满足性.作者使用该方法验证了DBLP和SLCF模型对机密性原则的违反.     

混合多策略视图安全模型

传统的MLS策略侧重于信息机密性保护,却很少考虑完整性,也无法有效实施信道控制策略,在解决不同安全级别信息流动问题时采用的可信主体也存在安全隐患.同时,应用环境的多样性导致了安全需求的多样化,而当前的安全模型都只侧重于其中一种或几种安全需求.本文给出的混合多策略模型一MPVSM模型有机组合了BLP,Biba,DTE和RBAC等安全模型的属性和功能,消除了MLS模型的缺陷,提高了信道控制能力和权限分配的灵活度,对可信主体的权限也进行了有力的控制和约束,同时为实现多安全策略视图提供了一个框架.文中给出了MPVSM模型的描述和形式化系统,并给出了几种典型策略的配置实例.     

Metrics for data warehouse conceptual models understandability

Due to the principal role of Data warehouses (DW) in making strategy decisions, data warehouse quality is crucial for organizations. Therefore, we should use methods, models, techniques and tools to help us in designing and maintaining high quality DWs. In the last years, there have been several approaches to design DWs from the conceptual, logical and physical perspectives. However, from our point of view, none of them provides a set of empirically validated metrics (objective indicators) to help the designer in accomplishing an outstanding model that guarantees the quality of the DW. In this paper, we firstly summarise the set of metrics we have defined to measure the understandability (a quality subcharacteristic) of conceptual models for DWs, and present their theoretical validation to assure their correct definition. Then, we focus on deeply describing the empirical validation process we have carried out through a family of experiments performed by students, professionals and experts in DWs. This family of experiments is a very important aspect in the process of validating metrics as it is widely accepted that only after performing a family of experiments, it is possible to build up the cumulative knowledge to extract useful measurement conclusions to be applied in practice. Our whole empirical process showed us that several of the proposed metrics seems to be practical indicators of the understandability of conceptual models for DWs.     

基于多级安全策略的二维标识模型

安全模型是用形式化的方法来描述如何满足系统的安全要求．经典的安全模型都只能要么满足系统的保密性要求(如BLP模型)，要么满足完整性的要求(如Biba模型)．该文提出了一个多级安全策略的二维标识模型，在对可信主体必须遵守最小特权原则的前提下，利用保密性标识和可信度标识共同构成主客体的访问标识，并利用两个约束条件，使得既能防止越权泄露信息．又能控制信息的非授权修改，从而同时保证了系统的保密性和完整性．     

A type-centric framework for specifying heterogeneous, large-scale, component-oriented, architectures

Maintaining integrity and consistency, and effecting conformance in architectures of large-scale systems require specification and enforcement of many different forms of structural constraints. While type systems have proved effective for enforcing structural constraints in programs and data structures, most architectural modeling frameworks include only weak notions of typing or rely on first order logic constraint languages that have steep learning curves associated with them and that become unwieldy when scaling to large systems.We present the Cadena Architecture Language with Meta-modeling (CALM) — that uses multi-level type systems to specify and enforce a variety of architectural constraints relevant to the development of large-scale component-based systems. Cadena is a robust and extensible tool that has been used to specify a number of industrial strength component models and applied in multiple industrial research projects on model-driven development and software product lines.     

Model-driven engineering: A survey supported by the unified conceptual model

During the last decade a new trend of approaches has emerged, which considers models not just documentation artefacts, but also central artefacts in the software engineering field, allowing the creation or automatic execution of software systems starting from those models. These proposals have been classified generically as Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) and share common concepts and terms that need to be abstracted, discussed and understood. This paper presents a survey on MDE based on a unified conceptual model that clearly identifies and relates these essential concepts, namely the concepts of system, model, metamodel, modeling language, transformations, software platform, and software product. In addition, this paper discusses the terminologies relating MDE, MDD, MDA and others. This survey is based on earlier work, however, contrary to those, it intends to give a simple, broader and integrated view of the essential concepts and respective terminology commonly involved in the MDE, answering to key questions such as: What is a model? What is the relation between a model and a metamodel? What are the key facets of a modeling language? How can I use models in the context of a software development process? What are the relations between models and source code artefacts and software platforms? and What are the relations between MDE, MDD, MDA and other MD approaches?