Enhancing Microservices Security with Token-Based Access Control Method

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Software Engineering
• Cybersecurity

Background:

• Microservices architecture enables agile development but introduces unique security challenges compared to monolithic applications.
• Cloud-native technologies like containers and serverless functions are commonly used for microservices development.
• Distributed systems inherently present security risks not found in traditional, centralized software designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel access control method for enhancing the security of microservices.
• To address the security vulnerabilities introduced by the distributed nature of microservices.
• To offer a more robust security solution than centralized or purely decentralized approaches.

Main Methods:

• Developed a new access control method specifically for microservices environments.
• Experimentally tested and validated the proposed method against existing centralized and decentralized architectures.
• Focused on distributing access control responsibilities through external authentication and internal authorization processes.

Main Results:

• The proposed method significantly enhanced the security of decentralized microservices.
• Distributing access control responsibilities improved the management of permissions between microservices.
• The approach effectively reduced the risk of unauthorized access and microservices attacks.

Conclusions:

• The proposed distributed access control method offers enhanced security for microservices.
• This method simplifies permission management and strengthens defenses against unauthorized access.
• It represents a viable solution for securing complex, distributed microservices applications.