The Chinese Wall security policy

The authors explore a commercial security policy (the Chinese Wall) which represents the behavior required of those persons who perform corporate analysis for financial institutions and concludes that it is perhaps as significant to the financial world as Bell-LaPadula's policies are to the military.

Abstract

The authors explore a commercial security policy (the Chinese Wall) which represents the behavior required of those persons who perform corporate analysis for financial institutions. It can be distinguished from Bell-LaPadula-like policies by the way that a user's permitted accesses are constrained by the history of his previous accesses. It is shown that the formal representation of the policy correctly permits a market analyst to talk to any corporation which does not create a conflict of interest with previous assignments. The Chinese Wall policy combines commercial discretion with legally enforceable mandatory controls. It is required in the operation of many financial services organizations; the authors conclude that it is, therefore, perhaps as significant to the financial world as Bell-LaPadula's policies are to the military.>