Security Considerations - Push/Pull Migration

On today's call we discussed that there are some security issues around
both the push and pull Application Migration use cases.


For reference:
http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/HNTF/Home_Network_TF_Discussions/PullMigr
ation

http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/HNTF/Home_Network_TF_Discussions/Document
Migration


I'm having trouble figuring out how to incorporate these concerns into the
top-level security document here:
http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/HNTF/Home_Network_TF_Discussions/Security


In one sense it's a security issue, given that pushing a malicious,
inappropriate or undesired application could expose the system to a
variety of attacks. It also could serve as a denial-of-service vector,
assuming that such requests could flood a system and cause it to become
unusable or unreachable.

In another sense it's a User Experience (UX) issue that is somewhat
separable from being a security concern.

I think the basic principle here is that these actions are by their nature
interruptive and therefore should require confirmation at the affected end
of the transaction. E.g. When a user requests to push an application to a
target device, the target should provide confirmation UI. Conversely, when
a user requests to pull an application from another device, the source
device should provide confirmation UI.

Perhaps both of these activities (push/pull application migration) should
be at least gated by the presence of a pairing relationship as described
here: 
http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/HNTF/Home_Network_TF_Discussions/Security
#Device_Pairing

Thoughts?

Dave

Received on Wednesday, 8 June 2011 17:19:23 UTC