Commenting from file

www-talk@www10.w3.org
Wed, 8 Mar 95 20:56:20 PST


> Alvin Starr <alvin@eyepoint.com> writes:
> >I would argue that the agent is not as important as who's agent is it.
> >If you give a person access to your system then what is wrong with giving
> >their agent the same access. In this way all of the standard security rules
> >that apply to normal users should apply to their agents.
>
> Hang on, surely this completely undercuts the whole idea of agents? I think it

If you anonymous FTP to a system and you are allowed access then at that
point you are a user. what about loggin into a system as GUEST?. Why not
allow "user" login and access based on other criteria then the fact that
an administrator has created a login and password for you. Why not use the
net ID of the person logging in. That way a system could limit access based
on user information provided at login. Various levels of access could be
proviede based on the ability to validate the users origin.

> would be very sad if "my" agents could only run on machines where I have an
> account!
>

> So, how about the host donating only a certain maximum run time to an
> individual agent, and running no more than a certain number of agents at once?
> ie. The host could forcibly cease interpreting/running the agent after a given
> run time has elapsed. When an agent arrives on a host, it could effectively
> negotiate its time limit with its new host. For example, the agent might
> declare that it wants to run for up to 10 minutes, whereas the host might only
> be prepared to let it run for 1 minute. The host obviously must have the last
> word (since this is cooperative processing on other people's machines), and
> could then inform the agent that 1 minute is all it's getting. This could be
> used by the script to change how "deeply" it searches, perhaps..
>
Yes. Yes. Yes. All we need is more accounting and control information
associated with files. Allong with ACL's and ICL's.

>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Duncan C. White, Software Support Officer, Room 36BB20, Dept. of Elec Eng,
> University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH, UK.
> Email: D.White@ee.surrey.ac.uk Direct phone: +44 1483 259826
> Fax: +44 1483 34139
> URL: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/showstaff?D.White
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Aaarrgh! There's the monster!"
> "What, behind that rabbit?"
> Monty Python and the Holy Grail
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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Alvin Starr                   ||   voice: (905)513-6717
Eyepoint Inc.                 ||   fax:   (905)513-6718
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