Middleware Announcements

[Renee Frost <>]

Contact:
Greg Wood
202-331-5360


INTERNET2 RELEASES OPEN SOURCE WEB ACCESS CONTROL BUILDING BLOCK
Reference implementation provides proof of concept for component of
online identity services

Ann Arbor, Michigan--July 24, 2002--Internet2 today announced the
release of OpenSAML, a  building block for standards-based federated
network identity solutions, such as single Internet sign-on for consumer
and business users, and secure Web service transactions.

OpenSAML is a freely available, open source reference implementation of
the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). SAML is a specification
developed by the global non-profit consortium OASIS to allow
authentication and authorization information to be exchanged among
disparate Web access management and security products. SAML is also a
critical component of the Liberty Alliance's recently announced
specifications for federated identity and simplified sign-on.

"We welcome the release of OpenSAML," said Jeff Hodges, co-chair of the
OASIS SSTC. "An open-source SAML implementation fills an important role
in promoting the development of federated online identity solutions."

OpenSAML was developed under the aegis of the Middleware Architecture
Committee for Education (MACE), a group of leading university IT
technologists supported by the Internet2 research and development
consortium.

"Open-source implementations of key protocols and technologies have been
essential to making the Internet what it is today," said R. L. "Bob"
Morgan, chair of MACE and senior technology architect at the University
of Washington. "We think SAML is an important technology and are
promoting its adoption and evolution, in both open-source and
proprietary contexts, by creating and releasing OpenSAML."

OpenSAML is part of Shibboleth, a larger effort within the Internet2
community that is developing architectures, policy structures, practical
technologies, and an open source implementation to support
inter-institutional sharing of web resources subject to access controls.
For more information on Shibboleth, see:
http://middleware.internet2.edu/shibboleth/

For more information, or to download OpenSAML, please see:
http://www.opensaml.org

About Internet2(R)
Led by over 190 U.S. universities, working with industry and government,
Internet2 is developing and deploying advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the
creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships
among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today's
Internet in its infancy. For more information about Internet2, see:
http://www.internet2.edu/


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