The Integrity-Lock Approach to Secure Database Management

This paper presents the integrity-lock approach to database security. The integrity-lock approach offers a "near-term" solution to the problems of database security. It makes use of existing technology emphasizing the use of encryption, and minimizing as much as possible the amount of trusted code required to insure the security of the data. The paper presumes the existence of an "off-the-shelf" database management system to perform most of the normal database management functions, and underlying secure operating system. Multiple variations of the integrity-lock approach are presented, with an accompanying description of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Finally, the paper suggests possible methods of offsetting some of the threaks to which the integrity-lock is vulnerable.