| Research conducted during this thesis has resulted in the design, development and validation of an embedded security model for the Workspace Model (WM), which allows groupware and collaborative security to be specified in terms of the conceptual level of groupware systems and collaborative scenarios.; Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) encompasses activities relating to the study, research, design, development, implementation and use of computer-based technologies to support cooperative work. The computer systems and software applications of CSCW are referred to as groupware. The WM is an architectural style being developed to support the description and implementation of a vast range of collaborative scenarios and groupware. Security in computer systems and software is important as it prevents information from being obtained in an unauthorized manner and provides information integrity and availability assurances. The security of groupware is complicated by its collaborative and often distributed nature.; This thesis outlines the design, development and validation of a workspace security model (WSM), which allows the WM to address security concerns. Collaborative scenarios are used to elicit WM and collaborative specific security requirements. These requirements are then coupled with additional collaborative and security requirements. The WM is matched to the requirements to allow for the enforcement of security and to define a semi-formal WSM. A prototype is used to clarify security requirements and conduct rudimentary validation. Additional validation is conducted using proof sketches. |
