BloSS@M Member Onboarding Process

To access BloSS@M services, a user must first submit a membership request. This request is used to set up an account for the requesting entity, which may be an individual, organization, or department.

The authorization channel serves as a security layer separating and protecting the asset channel. Members are required to demonstrate, and continually maintain, an acceptable security posture; failure to do so can result in loss of access to the asset channel's smart contracts. As part of onboarding through the authorization chaincode, a new member first reviews and signs a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines expected behavior within the network. After this step, the member is initially placed in an unauthorized status until they provide an Authorization to Operate attestation along with any other supporting documentation required in the agreement. All submitted information is securely stored and tightly controlled under the authorization channel's NGAC policy, ensuring that only approved members can access or query it.

Existing authorized members are responsible for evaluating these submissions and voting on whether to grant or revoke authorization. Any change in status requires a majority decision from authorized participants on the channel, and this includes the authority to remove a service provider if security requirements are not met. If a member's authorization is revoked, their access to all smart contracts is immediately removed, except for the ability to submit an updated ATO attestation. Once updated documentation is provided, it is reviewed again and, if approved through a majority vote, the member's full authorization can be restored. This reinstatement grants access to both channels: the authorization channel, where they can participate in reviewing and voting on new members, and the asset channel, where they can use the services.

Within the asset channel, smart contracts are responsible for handling the distribution of software asset licenses. When a request is made and the required financial transaction is completed, the service provider member can issue the appropriate license through these contracts. The same asset channel smart contracts also manage both the leasing and the release of licenses among participating members. Once a license is obtained, it is stored securely and confidentially within BloSS@M, and the execution of the smart contract produces an immutable and private ledger record. Access control is strictly enforced through NGAC policies, ensuring that members cannot view or access other members' leased license information.

After installation of a licensed asset, members submit SWID tags to report the deployment. These tags are visible only to the service provider. To improve traceability, BloSS@M also records a hashed representation of each license on the ledger, preserving the history of leasing events and their associated SWID tags. This historical record remains accessible exclusively to the service provider, since the license hash is salted with a secret key known only to them, allowing secure and private tracking.

A major advantage of graph-based access control approaches such as NGAC is the simplicity of policy inspection. By traversing the graph structure, it is possible to clearly understand current access permissions at any point in time. This also enables Just-in-Time authorization, where access can be granted dynamically even for users not explicitly stored in the policy, as long as their credentials align with attributes defined in the graph. In BloSS@M, this Just-in-Time approach helps separate user management from the process of making authorization decisions.