- CapDesk
CapDesk is a
desktop environment that rigorously applies thePrinciple of least authority , in order to provide security for the user when running applications.Under CapDesk, applications are run with minimal authority, so that an application does not have access to a given file or directory until the user explicitly grants the application the right to access it.
CapDesk is a research system that aims to show that this does not reduce the usability of the system. On the contrary; CapDesk's user interface is quite conventional from the user's point of view. Standard GUI mechanisms such as opening a file or using a
file chooser are the basis for granting access rights to applications.CapDesk was the first system to implement a
Powerbox file chooser .CapDesk is written in the
E programming language , which in turn is currently implemented in Java.Caplet
In the CapDesk desktop environment, a caplet is a program that starts off with no authority beyond the ability to interact with the user via a window and to request capabilities via a
powerbox .The term is a pun on
applet , combining the term with "cap" which is short for "capability".Applets such as
Java applet s often have no non-trivial use, because they do not have—and more importantly, cannot be granted—useful authority, such as the ability to save a file to the user's filesystem. In contrast, caplets are more useful, because they can request and be granted authority in a fine-grained but secure way.ee also
*
HP Polaris (computer security) , a similar system, for running Windows applications
*Bitfrost External links
* [http://www.combex.com/papers/darpa-review/index.html A Security Analysis of the Combex DarpaBrowser Architecture] , David Wagner and Dean Tribble, March 4, 2002
* [http://www.combex.com/tech/edesk.html E and CapDesk]
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