Ted Huskey

June 17, 2017

(Rev 1.0 September 2018)
CSOL 500
Module 4: Reference Monitor
A Reference Monitor is a concept (vice an actual thing that one holds or installs) that

enforces the access relationship between users and objects in a system. Reference

Monitors are the gatekeepers or mediators used to ensure only authorized users access

data. A Reference Monitor has the following properties; it must be non-by-passable so

that an attacker cannot circumvent the security policy. It must be easy to analyze and

test, must be tamper proof and must always be invoked. Figure 1 is a representative

illustration of a Reference Monitor.

Figure 1
The system I have chosen to exam in the context of reference monitor is PKI. A public

key infrastructure is a set of roles, policies and procedures needed to create, manage,

distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificate and manage public-key encryption

The PKI construct is, at the macro level, a reference monitor. Its main function is access

control in the sense that its purpose is to ensure only authorized users are able to access

the desired data, in this case encrypted data.

The standard reference monitor consist of 4 items or components: subjects, objects,

authorization databases and audit trail. Although the PKI construct is comparable to a

reference monitor in that it has subjects (users requesting access), objects (encrypted

data), authorization databases (certifying authority), it lacks an inherent audit feature. The

lack of an audit feature is a big deal and has ramifications. It is important to have a

record of security related events, like attempted or unsuccessful attempts. Fortunately

common practice for information system owners is to have a security logging and

monitoring plan in place that checks for suspicious activities like failed logons.

Additionally there are programs like Cert Spotter that monitor and track unauthorized

certificates.
 Reference

Russell, D., & Gangemi, G.T. (1991) Computer Security Basics. Sebastopol, CA
O’Reilly Media.

R Lewis. (2016, May 5). The Reference Monitor - A Necessary Security Mechanism
[Web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.peerlyst.com/ posts/the-reference-
monitor-a-necessary-security-mechanism

Page, M. G. CISSP (2016). Exam Cram: Security Architecture and Models. Pearson
Education Inc.

Public Key Infrastructure. (n.d.). Retrieved 7 June 2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Public_key_infrastructure

Introducing Cert Spotter: Easy Certificate Transparency Monitoring from SSLMate.

(n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2017 from
https://sslmate.com/blog/post/introducing_certspotter