Attribute-based Access Control (ABAC)
This project explores foundational and emerging challenges in modern access control by advancing the theory and practice of the NIST Next Generation Access Control (NGAC) model. NGAC is selected as the central framework for its dynamic policy management capabilities, formal structure, and adaptability to complex, distributed, and interconnected systems. Our research spans multiple dimensions of access control science, including theoretical analysis of authorization models, derivation of NGAC policies from structured and unstructured security requirements, optimization of policy correctness and complexity, and the formal extension of NGAC to support new operational, hierarchical, and contextual features. We also examine the applicability of NGAC across diverse domains to evaluate its generality, scalability, and expressive power. Our team aims to establish a unified foundation for NGAC-based policy engineering—covering requirements, formal modeling, analysis, optimization, and deployment—to support secure and resilient access control.
Project’s Latest News
Publications & Software
- Abhimanyu Chawla, Mahmoud Abdelgawad, and Indrakshi Ray, “Access Control Policies Specification and Analysis for Multi-Institutional Collaborative Projects”, In Proceedings of the IEEE 11th International Conference on Collaboration and Internet Computing (CIC), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, November 2025. Paper | Presentation
- Jason Simental, Elmaddin Azizli, Mahmoud Abdelgawad, and Indrakshi Ray, “Securing Android Inter-Process Communication (IPC) Using NGAC”, In Proceedings of the IEEE 22nd Annual International Conference on Privacy, Security, and Trust (PST), Fredericton, Canada, August 2025. Paper
- Brian Tan, Ewan Davies, Indrakshi Ray, and Mahmoud Abdelgawad, “Safety Analysis in the NGAC Model”, In Proceedings of the 30th ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT), Stony Brook, NY, USA, July 2025. (
Best Paper Runner-up Award).Paper - Saja Alqurashi, Indrakshi Ray, Mahmoud Abdelgawad, and Hosein Shirazi, “SR2ACM: A Methodical Approach for Translating Natural Language Security Requirements to Access Control Model”, In Proceedings of the IEEE 6th International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Intelligent Systems, and Applications (TPS-ISA), Washington D.C., USA, October 2024. Paper
- Oluwatosin Falebita, Mahmoud Abdelgawad, Evan Anspach, and Indrakshi Ray, “Securing Virtual Reality Apps Inter-process Communication”, In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Information Systems Security (ICISS), Jaipur, India, December 2024. Paper | Presentation
- Shwetha Gowdanakatte, Mahmoud Abdelgawad, and Indrakshi Ray, “Security Hardening of Industrial Control Systems using Attribute-Based Access Control”, In Proceedings of the 9th Annual Industrial Control System Security Workshop (ICSS@ACSAC), Austin, Texas, December 2023. Paper | Presentation
- Mahmoud Abdelgawad, Indrakshi Ray, Saja Alqurashi, Videep Venkatesha, and Hossein Shirazi, “Synthesizing and Analyzing Attribute-Based Access Control Model Generated from Natural Language Policy Statements”, In Proceedings of the 28th ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT), Trento, Italy, June 2023. Paper
- Shwetha Gowdanakatte, Indrakshi Ray, and Siv Hilde Houmb, “Attribute Based Access Control Model for Protecting Programmable Logic Controllers”, In Proceedings of the 2022 Workshop on Secure and Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems (Sat-CPS@CODASPY), Baltimore, MD, April 2022. Paper
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