Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    Web Services Edge Cuts Both Ways

    By
    Peter Coffee
    -
    October 18, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Perhaps Im getting too good at seeing the glass as one-tenth empty, instead of nine-tenths full—but Im wondering, you see, what someone might pour into that remaining empty space. Web services technologies offer exceptional power for crafting enterprise IT architectures, but I sometimes wonder if they have what it takes to survive out there on the street: There are plenty of people with their own ideas for what to add as a final unwelcome ingredient to the services cocktail.

      My suspicion in these matters is long-standing. It goes back to when Microsoft was still talking about Windows DNA about four and a half years ago, which was the first time that I heard someone describe a specific, service-for-sale vision of what was then called, at least by Microsoft, the “programmable Web.”

      The service in question was the calculation, hypothetically, of sales tax on Net-based transactions. Rather than having every Internet retailer maintain its own map of myriad sales tax districts and rates, this imagined service would take the locations of seller and buyer, and the dollar amount of the transaction, and would return an accurate determination of what taxes were due to whom.

      Yes, I know that Internet-based transactions are at present exempt from most taxes, but that cant last forever. The service Ive just described would be, at some point, worth having—but call me nasty and suspicious, because the first thought that went through my head was, “What a scam.” Buyers of this service would be feeding the provider a real-time stream of data on whos buying stuff, in terms of locations if not individual names, and how much those customers are spending—and they would be paying for the privilege of divulging that valuable market intelligence. Nice work if you can get it.

      What brings this memory to mind is the FTCs first filing, last week, of a lawsuit seeking court blockage of spyware operations. If you think the spyware problem is out of hand already, just wait until theres a far richer ecosystem of Web services message traffic on which to feed. Weve barely begun to suffer. In the present case, were talking about the actual uninvited installation of unwanted software on peoples machines, and yet its still possible for a reasonable person to contend that no law is actually being broken: How much harder will it be, I wonder, to protect users privacy interests in their stream-of-service messages that are traversing public network links?

      The question isnt just sitting there, waiting for a disappointing answer: Its being addressed, in particular, by the multilayered protections defined by WS-Security 1.1. Its essential that this and other protections stay abreast of the growing mischief-making potential of interacting services, as we leave the benign era of trying to prove that the technology can work and enter a more challenging era: one in which people want it to work in their own competitive interest.

      One way or another, developers will take advantage of all the effort thats being invested in making targets of opportunity ever larger, with ever more bandwidth available to be used for good or for ill.

      Tell me what other unwanted ingredients might wind up in the services glass at [email protected]

      To read more Peter Coffee, subscribe to eWEEK magazine.

      Check out eWEEK.coms Web Services Center for the latest news, reviews and analysis in Web services.

      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee is Director of Platform Research at salesforce.com, where he serves as a liaison with the developer community to define the opportunity and clarify developers' technical requirements on the company's evolving Apex Platform. Peter previously spent 18 years with eWEEK (formerly PC Week), the national news magazine of enterprise technology practice, where he reviewed software development tools and methods and wrote regular columns on emerging technologies and professional community issues.Before he began writing full-time in 1989, Peter spent eleven years in technical and management positions at Exxon and The Aerospace Corporation, including management of the latter company's first desktop computing planning team and applied research in applications of artificial intelligence techniques. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, he has held teaching appointments in computer science, business analytics and information systems management at Pepperdine, UCLA, and Chapman College.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×