| Security attributes are abstractions representing the basic properties or characteristics of an entity (e.g., subjects and objects) with respect to safeguarding information.
These attributes are typically associated with internal data structures (e.g., data records, buffers, files) within the application and are used to enable the implementation of access control and flow control policies, reflect special dissemination, handling or distribution instructions, or support other aspects of the information security policy.
Organizations define the security attributes of their data (e.g., classified, FOUO).
When application data is created and/or combined, data security attributes defined by organizational policy must be dynamically created and/or updated to reflect the potential change in data sensitivity and characteristics.
If the application does not dynamically reconfigure the data security attributes as data is created and combined, there is the possibility that classified data may become commingled with unclassified data resulting in a data compromise.
Databases frequently have internal procedures and functions that can be used to combine data. If security labels assigned to the data do not dynamically reconfigure the labels to reflect an appropriate security level for the newly combined data, classified and unclassified data may be commingled or mislabeled. |
