Developing a Visual Tool for Rule Definition in Role Based Access Control System for Social Networks

Abstract

This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a user interface for role-based access control for any resources that can be used in social networking applications, called Lava. Lava has been designed to give end-users the ability to set permissions on user’s resourcesbased on pre-defined roles using easy and simple interfaces.Then to generate JSON files that contain thedefinitions of resources and role permissions schemathat user sets on his resources. For that goal, a user-centered design approach was utilizedto facilitate an optimal user experience and to emphasize the end-user. The main goalofthe Lavasystem istomake users aware of role-based access control, and let them set permissions to their own resourcesthrough interactive user interfacesin online social networks.These interfaces also let theuser be a participant while designing the prototype. The result of the research is a high-fidelity user interface prototype which has all the functionalities that enable users to set the permissions for their resources.Then based on the user interaction with the interface, a JSON file will be generated. This JSON file will be used by another system (being developed by another team partner) called ETQAN which will generate an application programming interface (API) to be used in social networks.