Open standards have gained momentum among enterprises as a mechanism for Web services to communicate with partners, customers, and suppliers. XML, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and HTTPS are among the technologies for developing interoperable Web services with open, flexible, and adaptive interfaces. That inherent openness, however, poses security risks. Without proper protections, Web services can expose vulnerabilities that could lead to dire consequences. Ensuring that those services and their communications are integral, confidential, and secure is critical for all parties.

Through an example of a stock-quote service (henceforth, the service), this tutorial steps you through the process of securing communications between the service's client and server with Sun Java System Access Manager (henceforth, Access Manager), the NetBeans IDE 5.5, and the Java Application Platform Software Development Kit (SDK) with Tools bundle (henceforth, the bundle). It is assumed that you are familiar with Java and Web-service technologies.