Security

Security is the set of hardware, software, practices, and technologies that protect a server and its users from malicious outsiders. In that regard, security protects against unexpected behavior.

You need to address security globally and include people and processes as well as products and technologies. Unfortunately, too many organizations rely solely on firewall technology as their only security strategy. These organizations do not realize that many attacks come from employees, not outsiders. Therefore, you need to consider additional tools and processes when creating a secure portal environment.

Operating Portal Server in a secure environment involves making certain changes to the Solaris^TM Operating Environment, the Gateway and server configuration, the installation of firewalls, and user authentication through Directory Server and SSO through Access Manager. In addition, you can use certificates, SSL encryption, and group and domain access.

Access Control

Portal Server relies on the HTTPS encryption protocol, in addition to UNIX system security, for protecting the Portal Server system software.

Security is provided by the web container, which you can configure to use SSL, if desired. Portal Server also supports SSL for authentication and end-user registration. By enabling SSL certificates on the web server, the Portal Desktop and other web applications can also be accessed securely. You can use the Access Manager policy to enforce URL-based access policy.

Portal Server depends on the authentication service provided by Access Manager and supports single sign-on (SSO) with any product that also uses the Access Manager SSO mechanism. The SSO mechanism uses encoded cookies to maintain session state.

Another layer of security is provided by Secure Remote Access. It uses HTTPS by default for connecting the client browser to the intranet. The Gateway uses the Rewriter or Proxylet to enable all intranet web sites to be accessed without exposing them directly to the Internet. The Gateway also provides URL-based access policy enforcement without having to modify the web servers being accessed.

Communication from the Gateway to the server and intranet resources can be HTTPS or HTTP. Communication within the Portal Server system, for example between web applications and the directory server, does not use encryption by default, but it can be configured to use SSL.

UNIX User Installation

You can install and configure Portal Server to run under three different UNIX users:

• root. This is the default option. All Portal Server components are installed and configured to run as the system superuser. Some security implications arise from this configuration:

  • An application bug can be exploited to gain root access to the system.

  • You need root access to modify some of the templates. Root access raises potential security concerns as this responsibility is typically delegated to non-system administrators.

• User nobody. You can install Portal Server as the user nobody (UID 60001). This can improve the security of the system, because the user nobody does not have any privileges and cannot create, read, or modify the system files. This feature prevents user nobody from using Portal Server to gain access to system files and break into the system.

  The user nobody does not have a password, which prevents a regular user from becoming nobody. Only the superuser can change users without being prompted for a password. Thus, you still need root access to start and stop Portal Server services.

• Nonroot user. You can run Portal Server as a regular UNIX user. The security benefits of a regular user are similar to the security benefits provided by the user nobody. A regular UNIX user has additional benefits as this type of user can start, stop, and configure services. After installation, you need to change ownership of some files.

  See the Sun Java Enterprise System 5 Installation Guide for more information.

Limiting Access Control

While the traditional security UNIX model is typically viewed as all-or-nothing, you can use alternative tools to provide some additional flexibility. These tools provide the mechanisms needed to create a fine grain access control to individual resources, such as different UNIX commands. For example, this toolset enables Portal Server to be run as root, while allowing certain users and roles superuser privileges to start, stop, and maintain the Portal Server framework.

These tools include:

• Role-based access control (RBAC). Solaris 8 and higher include role-based access control (RBAC) to package superuser privileges and assign them to user accounts. RBAC enables separation of powers, controlled delegation of privileged operations to users, and a variable degree of access control.

• Sudo. Sudo is publicly available software that enables a system administrator to give certain users the ability to execute commands as another user. See http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/sudo.html

Using a Secure Access Zone

For maximum security, the Gateway is installed between two firewalls. The outermost firewall enables only SSL traffic from the Internet to the Gateways, which then direct traffic to servers on the internal network.