Uses of Web Agents

Web agents function with OpenSSO Enterprise to protect content on web servers and web proxy servers from unauthorized intrusions. They control access to services and web resources based on the policies configured by an administrator. Web agents perform these tasks while providing single sign-on (SSO) and, in most cases, cross domain single sign-on (CDSSO) capabilities as well as URL protection.

Web agents are installed on deployment containers for a variety of reasons. Here are three examples:

• A web agent on a human resources server prevents non-human resources personnel from viewing confidential salary information and other sensitive data.

• A web agent on an operations deployment container allows only network administrators to view network status reports or to modify network administration records.

• A web agent on an engineering deployment container allows authorized personnel from many internal segments of a company to publish and share research and development information. At the same time, the web agent restricts external partners from gaining access to the proprietary information.

In each of these situations, a system administrator must set up policies that allow or deny users access to content on a deployment container. For information on setting policies and for assigning roles and policies to users, see the Sun Java System Access Manager 7.1 Administration Guide.