Security and Privacy for Web and Mobile Services

今天，网络和云服务提供商向他们的客户提供了一种浮士德式的交易：作为服务的交换，你必须向我们提供你所有的数据。云服务相对于“老派”客户端软件的优势有很多，包括：i.)通用的可访问性，ii.)可共享性，iii.)数据的高持久性，iv.)透明的代码更新，以及v.)除了高级功能之外，通常看起来是免费的服务。******然而，这些好处的代价很大：失去对用户自己数据的控制。首先，用户放弃了其数据的隐私。服务提供商在其服务协议中授予自己将用户数据货币化的权利，这对用户来说是极其不透明的。其次，用户没有办法审计访问权限或保留数据，因为它们是由服务器端软件实现的。例如，虽然用户可以从她的主页上删除一张照片，但在假定删除很久之后，同一张照片可能通过直接的url引用被访问。更麻烦的是，由于纠纷或业务状况的变化，用户可能会失去对其数据的访问权限。除此之外，当用户被允许提取他的数据时，他留下的是一大堆无法理解的数据，没有软件来导航。最后，由于用户经常使用许多云应用程序，他的数据分散在互联网上，检索相关项目的机制很少。******这里提出的研究重点是以下问题。是否有可能构建既保留web服务交付模型的优点，又改进用户对自己数据的控制的应用程序和服务？******我们相信答案是肯定的。在我的实验室里，我们正在努力理解这种功能，这种功能将允许服务提供商在如何处理他们的数据方面为消费者提供更广泛的选择。到目前为止，在我们的研究中，我们已经开发了一种web浏览器扩展机制，用于监控、干预和为客户端web应用程序提供新的api，这些api允许丰富的应用程序，同时仍然为用户提供隐私和对数据的控制。我们建议在几个方向上继续进行这方面的研究。* * * * * * 1。)我们建议扩展我们的网络介入技术，以建立一个个人网络分析平台。该平台将扮演两个重要角色。首先，它会将用户的网络会话记录到安全日志中。其次，它将允许分析应用程序访问日志，同时对应用程序进行沙箱处理，以防止隐私泄露。* * * * * * 2)。我们还将研究如何将这些平台扩展到移动软件。我们将研究ARM TrustZone机制是否足以克服Android操作系统引入的不安全性。* * * * * * 3)。我们将利用现有Web服务的规模来构建重要的安全基础设施，以支持更多样化的私人应用生态系统，例如强大的用户对用户公钥基础设施和匿名通信服务，作为TOR的替代品。

***Today, web and cloud service providers offer a Faustian bargain to their customers: in exchange for service, you must give us all of your data. The advantages of cloud services over “old school” client-side software are many, including: i.) universal accessibility, ii.) share-ability, iii.) high durability of data, iv.) transparent code updates, and v.) often seemingly free service for all but premium functionality.******However, these benefits come at a large expense: loss of control of the user's own data. First and foremost, the user gives up the privacy of his data. Service providers grant themselves rights to monetize user data in their service agreements that are extremely opaque to the user. Second, the user has no means to audit the access permissions to, or retention of, the data as they are implemented by server side software. E.g., while a user may remove a photo from her home page, that same photo may be accessible via a direct URLreference long after the supposed deletion. Even more troubling, a user may simply lose access to his data due to a dispute or a change in business posture. Short of that, when a user is allowed to extract his data, he is left with an unintelligible mass without the software to navigate it. Finally, since a user often employs many cloud applications, his data is scattered across the Internet and the mechanisms for retrieving related items are few. ******The research proposed here is focused on the following question. Is it possible to build applications and services that retain the advantages of the web service delivery model but improve the control users have over their own data? ******We believe that the answer is yes. In my lab we are working to understand the functionality that would allow service providers to give consumers a broader range of choices in how their data is handled. In our research to date we have developed mechanisms for a web browser extension to monitor, interpose on, and provide new APIs for client-side web applications that allow for rich applications while still providing users privacy and control of their data. We propose to continue this line of research in several directions. ****** 1.) We propose to extend our web interposition techniques to build a platform for personal web analytics. The platform will perform two essential roles. First, it will record a user's web sessions to a secure log. Second, it will allow analysis applications access to the log while sandboxing the applications to prevent privacy leaks. ******2.) We will also examine how to extend these platforms to mobile software. We will investigate whether the ARM TrustZone mechanism is sufficient to overcome the insecurities introduced by the Android OS. ******3.) We will leverage the scale of existing Web services to build important security infrastructure for supporting a more diverse ecosystem of private applications such as a robust user--to--user public key infrastructure and an anonymity communication service as an alternative to TOR.