[DGD] Persistent library design, initialization and data integrity

[Noah Gibbs]

  You're correct that Phantasmal uses a lot more verification code in a lot of
places to keep unauthorized callers out.  It's not perfect (the kernel lib is
astoundingly correct and consistent on security), but it's not bad.

  Phantasmal doesn't have particularly fine-grained security, partly because I
just didn't get to it.  The MapD carefully owns everything, so the place to
secure would be the MapD's API.  In a persistent system, and most heavily
attacked systems, the approach is similar -- have system components as "armed
camps" verifying each request as they come in, and whether the person making
the request is authorized to do it.

--- Carter Cheng <carter_cheng at yahoo.com> wrote:

> One of the most salient features of DGD is persistence. As noted on a
> previous thread on the mailing list in theory this means that most
> initialization code can be for the most part done away with since many
> objects need to be only initialized once. In my experience from working
> primarily with MudOS 90% or more of the code is designed to support
> initialization or initialization code of some sort. 
> 
> I am curious what happens when you start avoiding the initialization script
> approach to initializing things on persistent muds. Do you have to be more
> concerned about data integrity since the data might be the only place where
> that information is kept (there is no redundancy of an init script or a save
> file). So instead of spending security effort protecting files you (following
> this line of reasoning) have to protect data just as much. 
> 
> This seems like to me it might have two implications- either security has
> finer granularity (is this possible under either Klib or Phantasmal?) and you
> can fine tune the system to make sure certain calls are restricted to certain
> classes of users depending on the object. Or you would have to add extra code
> to each set type call in turn to make sure that it isnt called by someone
> lacking proper permissions.
> 
> Is this true and are there other implications also when designing persistent
> mudlibs?
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> https://mail.dworkin.nl/mailman/listinfo/dgd
> 





       
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