Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
11
Geospatial Database Security
Soon Ae Chun
1
and Vijayalakshmi Atluri
2
1
College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY
chun@mail.csi.cuny.edu
2
Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
atluri@cimic.rutgers.edu
Summary.
Geospatial data refers to the resources associated with location infor-
mation represented by longitude and latitude. Its increasing availability and the tools
to integrate and visualize the various types of data facilitate conducting sophisticated
analysis and discovering hidden patterns. Therefore, uncontrolled dissemination of
geospatial data may have grave consequences for national security and personal pri-
vacy. Access control for this data is based on its geospatial location, content and
context, the credentials and characteristics of the users requesting access as well as
the time at which the data is captured and requested. In this chapter, we review the
different access control models proposed by researchers for controlled dissemination
of geospatial data. Since geospatial data is increasingly obtained from third party
Web services, we also review the security models presented in the area of geospatial
Web services.
1 Introduction
Geospatial data, which typically includes maps, aerial and satellite images, is
associated with location information represented by longitude and latitude.
These maps and remotely sensed satellite imageries may represent diverse
data, such as rivers, government boundaries, roads, rainfall, vegetation index,
business establishments, monuments, parks, schools, population, etc. The pro-
liferation of the Internet, with the advances in the collection and processing
of the geospatial data, has led to its easy creation and dissemination by fed-
eral, state and local government agencies as well as by private and non-profit
organizations. This geospatial data is often made readily available for public
access, and can be shared through a geospatial data clearinghouse or portal
in a global as well as local level, e.g. [23, 26, 6].
Geospatial data can be collected, analyzed, manipulated, and integrated
and visualized with the help of various Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
such as ESRI ArcView, ArcInfo, ENVI and Internet Map Server. They support
the end users to comprehend the complex nature of data through analysis, in-
tegration and visualization through thematic layers, and can produce more
