OASIS Forms Technical Committee to Standardize Security Access Control with XML

Interoperability Consortium to Develop XACML

Boston, MA, USA; April 24, 2001 – OASIS, the XML interoperability consortium, announced the formation of a new technical committee to standardize security access control using XML. The new OASIS eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) Technical Committee will define an XML specification for expressing policies for information access over the Internet. “XACML will define the representation for rules that specify the who, what, when and how of information access,” explained Simon Y. Blackwell of Psoom, chair of the OASIS XACML Technical Committee. “Access control, which is often called ‘rights management’ or ‘entitlement management,’ determines who can look at something, what they can do with it, the type of device they can look at it on, etc.” “Security is a very broad area for XML development-there are many aspects of security that interrelate,” said Karl Best, OASIS director of technical operations. “This new OASIS XACML Technical Committee will work in parallel with the existing OASIS Security Services group, which is concerned primarily with authorization and authentication issues. Both technical committees are committed to coordinating their efforts with each other and with other security initiatives in progress.” Global and inclusive in scope, XACML will bring together and build on access control specification work already under way worldwide, including XACL from IBM in Japan and XML-AC from the Department of Information Technology at the University of Milan, Italy. Initial members of the OASIS XACML Technical Committee include OASIS sponsors, Baltimore Technologies, CrossLogix, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Jamcracker, Oblix, Reuters, Sun Microsystems and webMethods. Other companies and individuals are encouraged to participate in the XACML work by joining OASIS. About OASIS OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org) is the international, not-for-profit consortium that advances electronic business by promoting open, collaborative development of interoperability specifications. With the United Nations, OASIS sponsors ebXML, a global framework for electronic business data exchange. OASIS operates XML.ORG, the non-commercial portal that delivers information on the use of XML in industry. The XML.ORG Registry provides as an open community clearinghouse for distributing and locating XML application schemas, vocabularies and related documents. OASIS serves as the home for industry groups interested in developing XML specifications. OASIS technical work embraces conformance, security, business transactions, repositories and other interoperability issues. OASIS sponsors include Accenture, Access360, Adobe Systems, AND Data Solutions, Arbortext, Auto-trol, Aventail, Baltimore Technologies, B-Bop Associates, BEA Systems, Bentley Systems, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Bowstreet, Business Logic Corporation, Chrystal Software, Cincom Systems, Cohesia, Commerce One, Critical Path, CrossLogix, DataChannel, Dataloom, Deutsche Post AG, Documentum, EADS Airbus, empolis, Engage, Enigma, Excelergy, eXcelon, Extricity Software, First Call Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Informix, Infoteria, Innodata, Interwoven, IPNet Solutions, ITEDO Software, Ivis Group, Jamcracker, Logistics Management Institute, Mediaplex, Mercator Software, Microsoft, Netegrity, NetFish Technologies, Netscape/AOL, NextPage, NII Enterprise Promotion Association, Nimble Technology, NIST, Novell, ObjectSpace, Oblix, OpenNetwork Technologies, Pearson Education, Planet 7 Technologies, Popkin Software, Reuters, SAA Consultants, Sabre, SAP, SeeBeyond, Sequoia Software, Silverstream Software, SoftQuad Software, Software AG, Sterling Commerce, StreamServe, Sun Microsystems, Synth-Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, The Tamalpais Group, Thomas Technology Solution, Tibco, US Defense Information Systems Agency, Virtual Access Networks, Visa International, Wavo, webMethods, Whitehill Technologies, Xerox, XML Global, XMLSolutions and Xyvision Enterprise Solutions. For more information: Carol Geyer Director of Communications OASIS carol.geyer@oasis-open.org +1 978.667.5115 x209 ###