Scientists develop new language to improve home computer security

WASHINGTON - Korean computer scientists have developed a novel security language for home networks that could ward off cyber attack in homes.

Like companies, banks, and other big organizations, domestic and small office networks are just as vulnerable to hacking, malicious computer code, worms, viruses, and eavesdropping.

An attack can wreak havoc on individuals and small businesses when security it compromised.

With home and small office networks connecting all kinds of devices - personal computers, mobile devices, remote security cameras, gaming consoles, and more - they represent an even more heterogeneous mix than many larger offices.

Lead researcher Geon Woo Kim of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, in Korea has developed a specification for security policy on home networks that can guarantee reliability and availability.

“Whenever a new access to the home network is found, it should be able to authenticate and authorize it and enforce the security policy based on rules set by the home administrator,” said the researchers.

However, to make such an approach effective but simple requires a way to consistently describe and specify the security policy.

The computer scientists first turned to a computer markup language, eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML).

XACML is a general purpose language and so it lacks the notation for security policies and authorization rules.

The team has now developed a related language - Home security Description Language, xHDL - that includes the necessary notation for securing a home network.

They report details in the International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing.

Each of these terms within xHDL could be used to run a browser-based control centre.

That program would provide the domestic administrator with simple control options to allow access to the home network only for specific devices and to control the packets of information that can pass through the gateway to and from the internet.

The study appears in nternational Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing. (ANI)