[Am-info] Security Standard Pushed By Microsoft, IBM, VeriSign

[Fred A. Miller]

Security Standard Pushed By Microsoft, IBM, VeriSign

Microsoft, IBM, and VeriSign are developing security standards to
overcome a major obstacle to adoption of emerging Web services.
As part of the effort, the companies plan to submit a spec called
WS-Security to an independent standards body within four months.
Each of trio's Web sites promotes "Security in a Web Services
World," the outline of a proposal by IBM and Microsoft for a
complete security framework.

Web services are emerging standards for integration apps used
over the Internet. Financial-services companies are among the
early adopters of Web services, but without security standards,
the technology will never be used for mission-critical data. "I
think the likelihood is high" that a security framework could be
widely accepted given the three companies pushing for one, says
Rodric O'Connor, chief technology officer of Putnam Lovell
Securities Inc. in San Francisco. Such a framework, O'Connor
says, would "increase the likelihood of me expanding my use of
Web services for more mission-critical data." Today, security is
handled on a project-by-project, custom basis.

The trio haven't decided whether to submit WS-Security to the
Worldwide Web Consortium, Oasis, or another independent standards
body. In the meantime, the proposal may be discussed next week
during the first meeting of the Web Services Interoperability
Organization, a group of tech vendors and others working to
ensure interoperability among products supporting Web services.
Missing from the vendors in WS-I, however, is Sun Microsystems,
which is competing with Microsoft's .Net for dominance in Web
services. - Antone Gonsalves

Read on
Not So Fast: Users Of Web Services Move Carefully
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eGku0Bce7K0V20BZ5L0Ax

VC, Industry Analyst Debate Web Services
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eGku0Bce7K0V20BbBV0AU

-- 
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm@cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org
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