IBM, Microsoft and VeriSign Announce Web Service Security [...]

📅 April 11, 2002 - Tech giants Microsoft, VeriSign and IBM today announced the publication of a new Web services security specification designed to help organizations build secure Web services applications.

The new specification, known as WS-Security, was jointly developed by all three firms. The companies said they plan to submit the specification to a standards body.
The companies said WS-Security supports, integrates and unifies several popular security models, mechanisms and technologies that allow a variety of systems to interoperate in a platform- and language-neutral manner within a Web services context.
WS-Security defines a standard set of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) extensions, or message headers, that can be used to implement integrity and confidentiality in Web services applications. SOAP is an XML-based industry protocol that allows applications to communicate regardless of platform.
"Companies know they can achieve dramatic gains in productivity and cost effectiveness by automating business processes through Web services, but two key challenges stand in the way: interoperability and trust," said Dr. Phillip Hallam-Baker, principal scientist with VeriSign and a co-author of the WS-Security specification. "The industry is making solid inroads on the interoperability front, and the new WS-Security spec is among a series of open security specifications paving the way for widespread adoption of trusted Web services."
The companies said organizations can incorporate these new specifications as needed into the different levels of their Web services applications. Other proposed specifications include ones related to privacy and authorization policies.
The WS-Security specification and "Security in a Web Services World," a "road map" for Web services security co-authored by IBM and Microsoft, are available on VeriSign's Web site.