Abstract: A system and method for conveying information to a user on the behavior of a dynamic display image or object which uses a display attribute table that maps an object type's attribute values to the object type's display attributes. Each display attribute in the display attribute table consists of an attribute value and an attribute value priority. The display attributes of a particular object are determined by selecting the display attribute values having the highest display attribute value priority given all the particular object's attribute values. As events change a particular object's attribute values the display attributes for the object are changed on the display by a display update means.

Abstract: The distributed auditing subsystem invention runs in a UNIX-like operating system environment with a hierarchical file system. The invention provides an audit trail of accesses to the objects it protects and maintains and protects that audit trail from modification or unauthorized access or destruction. The audit data generated by the invention is protected so that read access to it is limited to those who are authorized for audit data. The invention enables the recording of events which are relevant to the maintenance of the security of the system, such as the use of identification and authentication mechanisms, the introduction of objects into a user's address space, the deletion of such objects, actions taken by computer operators and system administrators and/or system security officers, and other security relevant events. The invention generates an audit record for each recorded event which includes the date and time of the event, the user, the type of event, and the success or failure of the event.

Abstract: When the user is logged on to a processor running multiple virtual terminals and he presses the Secure Attention Key, the existing virtual terminal processes are not destroyed. Instead, the invention creates a new virtual terminal, establishes a trusted path for the new virtual terminal, makes the new virtual terminal the current virtual terminal, and then runs the trusted process in the new virtual terminal.

Abstract: The trusted path mechanism invention guarantees that data typed by a user on a terminal keyboard is protected from any intrusion by unauthorized programs. It allows a user to create a non-forgeable and non-penetrable communication path between the user's terminal and the trusted operating system software. The user can create a trusted path by simply pressing a key, called the Secure Attention Key (SAK), on the terminal keyboard. This operation can be called when the user logs into the system in order to be sure that the user is communicating with the real login program and not a Trojan horse program masquerading as a login program, which could steal the user's password. After the user establishes the trusted path, he can enter his critical data, such as a password, and can be sure that his critical data is not being stolen by an intruder's program.

Abstract: In the remote trusted path invention, secure systems may provide a mechanism for the user to establish a trusted path for direct communication with the system's trusted computing base for security-critical operations. This invention allows users to request such a trusted path from remote systems using a new TELNET option and command, in a system-independent, confirmed, backward-compatible manner. It also describes how to implement remote support for such a trusted path in systems which use a Secure Attention Key mechanism such as Secure AIX.