JOC Cockpit - Security

The JOC Cockpit has been designed from the beginning to ensure that it is suitable for use in security-sensitive environments.

Architecture

The architecture introduced with the JOC Cockpit ensures that users are restricted to only being able to directly access the JOC Cockpit as illustrated in the diagram below. The JOC Cockpit then calls the Web Service which, in turn, has access to the JobScheduler Masters themselves.

See the JOC Cockpit - Architecture article for more information.

Security for System Administrators

HTTP / HTTPS Communication

As indicated in the schematic architecture diagram above, communication between the JOC Cockpit, the Web Service and the JobScheduler Masters and Agents can be carried out using both HTTP and HTTPS protocols. By default after installation HTTP will be used. However, HTTPS should be implemented by system administrators for all communication steps when the JobScheduler is to be used in sensitive environments. Information about the configuration of the Jetty Web Server delivered with the JOC Cockpit for HTTPS can be found on the Jetty Web Site.

Authorization Tokens

Separate authorization tokens are used for each communication step between the JOC Cockpit, the JobScheduler Web Service and the JobScheduler Masters and Agents. This means that if an attacker is able to take over and use a token they will only be able to bypass a part of the communication chain.

Authorization Token for the JOC Cockpit

The JOC Cockpit generates an authorization token each time a user logs on and saves this token either in the browser's local storage, if Remember Me is set on logging in, or in the browser's session storage, if Remember Me is not set. Note that there are situations where users can leave a valid authorization token on their file system although they are no longer working with the JOC Cockpit:

Situation	Remember Me Set	Remember Me Not set
User logs out, browser reverts to Log In page	Authorization token is invalidated by the logout	Authorization token is deleted with the session storage
Session expires, browser reverts to Log In page	Authorization token is deleted	Authorization token is deleted with the session storage
Browser tab is closed during session and then reopened by opening recent tab (Firefox)	Authorization token remains in browser's local storage and is not invalidated as a logout has not taken place. The token will then remain valid until the timeout period set in the shiro.ini configuration file has elapsed.	Authorization token remains in browser's session storage and is not invalidated as a logout has not taken place. The token will then remain valid until the timeout period set in the shiro.ini configuration file has elapsed.
Browser tab is closed during session and then reopened by opening login page	Authorization token remains in browser's local storage and is not invalidated as a logout has not taken place. The token will then remain valid until the timeout period set in the shiro.ini configuration file has elapsed.	Authorization token is deleted with the session storage

Note that:

the browser's local storage will not be emptied after a period of time when Remember Me is set and a user does not log in again,

Session Timeout

The JOC Cockpit makes use of the timeout period set in the shiro.ini configuration file for user sessions:

securityManager.sessionManager.globalSessionTimeout = 900000

The default value of 900'000 milliseconds translates to 15 minutes. To apply changes to this value the JOC Cockpit has to be restarted

If a user does not logout from the JOC Cockpit, but e.g. closes the browser or browser tab, then

the authorization token will remain valid for the specified period since the last user activity.
the user session in the JOC Cockpit is closed, however, the JobScheduler Web Service will accept the authorization token for the specified period.

Default Account

The JOC Cockpit ships with a default setting in the shiro.ini configuration file for the account "root" to use the password "root" having permissions for any operations with the JOC Cockpit.

Please adjust the account and password to be used. For a secure configuration it is recommended to configure LDAP access to a directory service for users and roles with shiro.ini. This would guarantee that general policies such as frequency of password change or password complexity are considered when using the JOC Cockpit.

Audit Log

The Audit Log allows compliance and operations reporting requirements for job scheduling activities to be met by providing an automatic and secure record of all actions that users of the JobScheduler Web Service - including JOC Cockpit users and external applications - perform on job-related objects. The Audit Log lists the relevant JobScheduler objects - Jobs, Job Chains, Orders, etc. - and any actions that modify their status.

Security for Users

Use of the Log In Form Remember Me Checkbox

The Remember Me setting in the JOC Cockpit Log In form shown below is a convenient function for users working in "normal" environments. However it should be used with caution in security-sensitive environments as it could allow unauthorized personnel access to the scheduling environment when the user does not rigorously lock their computer.

The behavior of the JOC Cockpit when Remember Me is set or not set depends on the situation. This behavior is specified in the following table:

Situation	Remember Me Set	Remember Me Not set
User logs out, browser reverts to Log In page	Log In information shown, credentials are available	Log In form is empty, input of credentials required
Session expires, browser reverts to Log In page	Log In information shown	Log In form is empty, input of credentials required
Browser is closed during session and then reopened; Log In page is opened by user	User is automatically logged in	Log In form is empty, input of credentials required