Session Report: The Semantics of Data Classification

This session addressed classification of data from a semantic level. The object was to approach database security from a semantic level—to look at why data objects are classified. The importance of this approach is summed up by Bill Shockley’s comments after the session. Shockley believes that the current research efforts have reduced access control mechanisms to engineering problems. He believes that the next set of research problems to be attacked are at the semantic level, most of which involve database design issues.