[plasma] Plasma and File protection Question

[Trevor Freeman <[e-mail]>]

Having agreed that files and are the conceptually the same as email from a policy access control perspective, there is one important distinction.

Email has a standard mechanism to define multiple parts of a message to represent different aspects of the message i.e. MIME.

We don't have that for files so we don't have a simple generic way to attach the extra metadata to a file.

Some standard file formats have specific extension mechanisms we can use e.g. OOXML which would allow you to define a way to attach the plasma metadata to the file type in question.

Alternatively there exist generic file container standards what can hold any combination of files and data e.g. OPC which would provide a generic solution for any file type.

If we were to expand files for consideration with Plasma, which would be the best first step, a specific solution like OOXML or a generic solution such as OPC?

Dr Trevor Freeman  Senior Security Strategist
End to End Trust Team<http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/endtoendtrust/default.mspx>
Microsoft Trustworthy Computing <http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/default.mspx>