Abstract

Mobile code presents a number of threats to the machines that execute it. In this paper we introduce an approach for protecting machines and the resources they hold from mobile code, and describe a system based on our approach for protecting host machines from Java applets. In our approach, each Java applet downloaded to the protected domain is rerouted to a dedicated machine (or set of machines), the playground, at which it is executed. Prior to execution the applet is transformed to use the downloading user's web browser as a graphics terminal for its input and output, and so the user has the illusion that the applet is running on her own machine. In reality, however, mobile code runs only in the sanitized environment of the playground, where user files cannot be mounted and from which only limited network connections are accepted by machines in the protected domain. We describe the design, implementation, performance and limitations of our system, and directions for future work. 1 ...

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