A Recipe-based Algorithm for Access Control in Modular Automation Systems
—In the emerging trend towards modular automation, a need for adaptive, strict access control between interacting components has been identified as a key challenge. In this article we discuss the need for such a functionality, and propose a workflow-driven method for automatic access control policies generation within a modular automation system. The solution is based on recipes, formulated using Sequential Function Charts (SFC). The generated policies are expressed using Next Generation Access Control (NGAC), an Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) standard developed by NIST. We provide (1) a definition of required policies for device-to-device interactions within a modular automation system, (2) an algorithm for automatic generation of access policies, (3) a formal proof of the correctness of this algorithm, and (4) an illustration of its use.