What is Code Access Security (CAS)? How does CAS work? Who defines the CAS code groups?

Code Access Security (CAS) is part of the .NET security model. CAS determines whether or not a piece of code is allowed to run and also what resources to use. For example, CAS will prevent malicious code from entering your system and causing havoc.

The CAS security policy revolves around two key concepts - code groups and permissions. Each .NET assembly is a member of a particular code group and each code group is granted the permissions specified in a named permission set. An example: Using the default security policy, a control downloaded from a web site belongs to the 'Zone - Internet' code group which complies to the permissions defined by the 'Internet' named permission set.

Microsoft defines some default policies but you can modify these and even create your own. To view the code groups defined on your system; Run 'caspol' from the command-line and checkout the different options on display.

Written by Sandeep Mogulla, Webmaster at www.startvbdotnet.com

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