Patent ID: 8510806

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of controlling access to information in a virtual computing environment comprising: storing authorization data on a first client computer system, wherein the authorization data comprises a public key certificate and an attribute certificate for a user of a plurality of users; accessing virtual computing software from the first client computer system; accessing a virtual object in the virtual computing software in response to instructions received from the first client computer system; sending the authorization data from the first client computer system to a second computer system, wherein the authorization data specifies access rights on the second computer system; accessing the second computer system using the authorization data and determining access rights to data related to accessing the virtual object on the second computer system based on said authorization data; and determining authorization rights in the virtual computing software based on the public key certificate and the attribute certificate of the user, wherein different attribute certificates are issued to different users based on a location of a virtual object in a hierarchically organized virtual space, and wherein the virtual object is located in the hierarchically organized virtual space, including: granting the user access to a first portion of the data according to the access rights of the user according to the authorization data, and denying the user access to the data other than the first portion according to the access rights of the user according to the authorization data.