What do you know about WS Security? Explain in brief

WS-Security (Web Services Security) is a communications protocol providing a means for applying security to Web services. On April 19 2004 the WS-Security 1.0 standard was released by Oasis-Open.

The protocol contains specifications on how integrity and confidentiality can be enforced on Web services messaging. The WSS protocol includes details on the use of SAML and Kerberos, and certificate formats such as X.509.

WS-Security describes how to attach signature and encryption headers to SOAP messages. In addition, it describes how to attach security tokens, including binary security tokens such as X.509 certificates and Kerberos tickets, to messages.

WS-Security incorporates security features in the header of a SOAP message, working in the application layer. Thus it ensures end-to-end security.