Role-Based Access Control for Collaborative Modeling Environments

Collaborative model-driven software engineering fosters efficient cooperation among stakeholders who collaborate on shared models. Yet, the involvement of multiple parties brings forth valid concerns about the confidentiality and integrity of shared information. Unrestricted access to such information, especially when not pertinent to individual responsibilities, poses significant risks, including unauthorized information exposure and potential harm to information integrity. This work proposes a dual-layered solution implemented as an open-source Eclipse plugin that leverages the role-based access control policy to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of model information in collaborative modeling environments. The first layer limits stakeholders' access to the shared model based on their specific roles, while the second layer refines this access by restricting manipulations to individual model elements. By ensuring that stakeholders access only the information pertinent to their roles and are authorized to manipulate such information in accordance with their expertise and responsibilities, this approach ensures the confidentiality and integrity of shared model information. Furthermore, it alleviates information overload for stakeholders by enabling them to focus only on the model information relevant to their specific roles, thereby enhancing the collaborative efforts.