|
Description:
|
Service -oriented approach to computing has gained the widespread attention of researchers and the industry . Major initiatives include service -oriented programming (SOP ) for constructing software components and service -oriented architectures (SOA ) for distributed applications . Software programs developed using SOP can be thought of as mega programs , where the component programs can exchange messages through clearly defined interfaces . SOP environment relies on the exchange of information between various services over various networks .
Services may exchange sensitive information that should only be available for a limited number of persons . Therefore it is necessary that various principals (people , computers , servers ) can authenticate themselves . Authentication means that a principal can prove his identity . This can be done by means of secrets , usually cryptographic keys . The process of deciding if user X is allowed to have access to service Y is called authorization . SOP environments may require authorization based on user interaction before he /she is allowed access to the services . Further , if sensible information is sent over an open network , an eavesdropper should not be able to understand the information that is sent and he should not be able to change this information without the receiver detecting this .
Smart cards and the online authentication technology known as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI ) seems the perfect solution to achieve this . They are designed to allow individuals anywhere in the world to identify each other , exchange data in encrypted form and to digitally sign documents in ways that cannot later be repudiated .
My research is based on designing a Smart Card based framework for SORCER that will provide user authentication and authorization . This standard security mechanism will not only enforce more consistent security policies , but application developers will be freed from the low -level drudgery of building explicit security controls into their software . |