Wait-And-See Advised On Security Initiative By Web Services Group

The WS-I formed the Basic Security Profile Working Group to develop specifications, called a "profile," for interoperability between security technologies related to Web services.

Security is only one of several major issues the organization must conquer to prove its effectiveness within the development of Web services standards.

"The WS-I has their work cut out for them," Ronald Schmelzer, analyst for high-tech researcher ZapThink LLC, said. "It's not impossible. However, security is a significant problem.

"If they can solve it well, it bodes well for the future of the WS-I. But if they can't solve it well, then it will definitely cause them problems. If they can't solve the security challenges, then how are they going to solve even more complicated interoperabilities, like management and business processes?"

For corporate IT, any security specification is only the start. To actually have a secure Web service, companies will need separate systems for identity management, enforcing security policies, and issuing digital certificates. To a large extent, these products will have to be bought and consultants hired to put together a complete security platform, Schmelzer said.

The security profile work of the WS-I will hopefully complement work underway by OASIS, an international standards body working on a standard called WS-Security. Other security standards are under development by less-influential groups to attack different aspects of security.

IBM and Microsoft led efforts to form the WS-I last year. The group now has about 160 members, including 20 non-IT companies. The security profile group will be chaired by Eve Maler, XML standards architect at Sun Microsystems.

Tuesday's announcement is not expected to have any effect on the 80 to 90 percent of companies that usually wait for products before implementing new technologies such as web services.

"The announcement gets the meter running," Schmelzer said. "If it takes a very little amount of time and it's successful, then it bodes well for the organization. But if it takes a long time and it's fraught with infighting and politics, then it'll indicate very difficult times for the WS-I's future."

This story courtesy of TechWeb.