Features

Liberty Alliance Unveils ID Standard for Web Services

By Indu Britto

Liberty Alliance has unveiled the public draft release of ID-WSF 2.0, a second-generation framework for identity-based Web services. The publicly available framework has been extended to include support for SAML 2.0, specifically defining how SAML 2.0 assertions can be used to communicate identity information among identity-based Web services. Today's news reflects the ongoing cooperation Liberty Alliance maintains with OASIS and other global standards organizations, integrating recognized open standards into Liberty specifications and helping to drive convergence of identity specifications. As developers increasingly migrate to SAML 2.0, they can now, or at any time in the future, implement ID-WSF specifications to more easily and securely manage interoperable identity-based Web services.

The specifications are based on guidance from Liberty's market requirements process, to which Liberty members contribute their use cases. Specific enhancements include:

Subscription/Notification: Permits Web service consumers to subscribe to automatic notices of changes from the Web services provider, automating the process and delivering benefit of ease and control to the end users.
Groups: Offers support for those scenarios in which membership in a group (e.g. a soccer team, senior managers, etc) drives/impacts the consumers' online interactions, allowing implementers to deliver enhanced services to end users.
Principal Referencing: Allows users to create and maintain a list of those friends/colleagues with whom they wish to interact online (e.g. viewing photos, finding the location, sharing contact book info, etc), opening up significant new opportunities to personalize services and allow end users to easily customize their Web experience.
Intelligent Client: Defines/profiles identity management mechanisms where the user device has enhanced capabilities, available if the device is on or offline, allowing Web services across a variety of devices and interoperability across systems, expanding the opportunity for additional types of strong authentication mechanisms, smart cards, SIM devices, etc.

Unveiling of the ID Standards for Web Services is part of a Liberty Alliance roadmap for WSF 2.0 specifications that are being released in phases to accommodate rapid industry deployment. The first phase is focused on SAML 2.0 support. The second and third phase, which are expected to be completed in full by the end of 2005, include several significant new features, designed to give implementers even greater depth of functionality including the capability to leverage custom Web services, as well as those being developed in the services groups within Liberty Alliance.


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