Safe utilization controls for more transparency in financial markets

Existing techniques for the enforcement of security properties cannot effectively cope with decentralized IT infrastructures, such as financial market applications heavily rely upon. To make regulations effective, onemust not only control the access to objects and resources of the underlying infrastructure, but also directly control their usage. Usage control mechanisms, such as those for information flow control and process rewriting, provide the necessary degree of transparency and evidence with regard to regulatory compliance. This article discusses the interplay between the security properties of existing IT infrastructures and the decentralized decision making on financial markets. In doing so, the article shows that usage control mechanisms and automated machine-to-machine communication enable early-warning systems formacroeconomic goals without restricting the freedom of action of participants. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.