Declarative and Programmatic Security

With declarative security, you specify all security settings for your application, including authentication requirements, access control, and security roles, using annotations and/or deployment descriptors. In other words, the security for your application is in a form that is external to the application, and relies on the mechanisms provided by the Java EE container for its management.

With programmatic security, your classes, entities, servlets, and page views manage security themselves. In this case, security logic is integrated directly into your application, and is used to handle authentication and authorization, and ensure that data is sent over a secure network protocol when necessary.

For the AffableBean application, we'll use declarative security by declaring all security information in the web.xml deployment descriptor.

For more information on declarative and programmatic security types, see the Java EE 6 Tutorial: Overview of Web Application Security.

Choosing an Authentication Mechanism

An authentication mechanism is used to determine how a user gains access to restricted content. The Java EE platform supports various authentication mechanisms, such as HTTP basic authentication, form-based authentication, and client authentication. The authentication mechanism behind our login form will be form-based authentication. You'll learn what form-based authentication is when you begin setting up the login form for the AffableBean administration console below.

See the Java EE 6 Tutorial: Specifying Authentication Mechanisms for further information.

Create Pages for Login and Login Failure

In form-based authentication, the process of authentication and authorization is shown in the following four steps:

1. The client sends a request to the server for a protected resource.
2. The server recognizes that a protected resource has been requested, and returns the login page to the client.
3. The client sends username and password credentials using the provided form.
4. The server processes the credentials, and if an authorized user is identified the protected resource is returned, otherwise the error page is returned.

For more information on form-based authentication, see the Java EE 6 Tutorial: Form-Based Authentication.

The j_security_check keyword represents the destination in the servlet container that handles authentication and authorization. When implementing the HTML login form, you apply it as the value for the form's action attribute. You also apply the "j_username" and "j_password" keywords, as in the following template:

<form action="j_security_check" method=post>

    <p>username: <input type="text" name="j_username"></p>

    <p>password: <input type="password" name="j_password"></p>

    <p><input type="submit" value="submit"></p>
</form>

Perform the following steps.

1. In the Projects window, right-click the admin folder node and choose New > JSP.
2. Name the file login, then click Finish. The new login.jsp file is created and opens in the editor.
3. Repeat the previous two steps to create a new error.jsp file. In the New JSP wizard, name the file error. When you finish, you'll have two new files listed in the Projects window.
   
4. Open the project's web deployment descriptor. Press Alt-Shift-O (Ctrl-Shift-O on Mac) and in the Go to File dialog, type 'web', then click OK.
   
5. In the editor, scroll to the bottom of the web.xml file and note the <jsp-property-group> entry created for JSP pages in the administration console. Add the new login and error JSP pages as <url-pattern> entries. (Changes in bold.)

   <jsp-property-group>
       <description>JSP configuration for the admin console</description>
       <url-pattern>/admin/index.jsp</url-pattern>
       <url-pattern>/admin/login.jsp</url-pattern>
       <url-pattern>/admin/error.jsp</url-pattern>
       <include-prelude>/admin/jspf/header.jspf</include-prelude>
       <include-coda>/admin/jspf/footer.jspf</include-coda>
   </jsp-property-group>

   This step ensures that when these two pages are returned to a client, they will be prepended and appended with the defined header.jspf and footer.jspf fragments, respectively.
   
   

   You can equally configure the <jsp-property-group> entry from the web.xml's visual editor. Click the Pages tab along the top of the editor, and enter the URL patterns into the respective JSP Property Group.

6. Press Ctrl-Tab to switch to the login.jsp file in the editor. Delete the entire template contents for the file, then enter the following HTML form.

   <form action="j_security_check" method=post>
       <div id="loginBox">
           <p><strong>username:</strong>
               <input type="text" size="20" name="j_username"></p>
   
           <p><strong>password:</strong>
               <input type="password" size="20" name="j_password"></p>
   
           <p><input type="submit" value="submit"></p>
       </div>
   </form>

   Note that the HTML form is based on the template provided above. Here, you use the "j_security_check" keyword as the value for the form's action attribute, and the "j_username" and "j_password" keywords as the values for the name attribute of the username and password text fields. The style of the form is implemented by encapsulating the form widgets within a <div> element, then defining a set of rules for the loginBox ID in affablebean.css.
7. Press Ctrl-Tab and switch to the error.jsp file in the editor. Delete the entire template contents for the file, then enter the following.

   <div id="loginBox">
   
       <p class="error">Invalid username or password.</p>
   
       <p>Return to <strong><a href="login.jsp">admin login</a></strong>.</p>
   
   </div>

   The above content includes a simple message indicating that login has failed, and provides a link that allows the user to return to the login form.

Add Security Entries to the Deployment Descriptor

In order to instruct the servlet container that form-based authentication is to be used, you add entries to the web.xml deployment descriptor. This is essentially a three-step process, which can be followed by specifying settings under the three headings in the web.xml file's Security tab. These are: (1) Login Configuration, (2) Security Roles, and (3) Security Constraints.

1. Open the project's web.xml file in the editor. (If it is already opened, you can press Ctrl-Tab and select it.)
2. Click the Security tab along the top of the editor. The IDE's visual editor enables you to specify security settings under the Security tab.
3. Expand the Login Configuration heading, select Form, then enter the following details:
   • Form Login Page: /admin/login.jsp
   • Form Error Page: /admin/error.jsp
   • Realm Name: file
   
4. Click the XML tab along the top of the editor and verify the changes made to the deployment descriptor. The following entry has been added to the bottom of the file:

   <login-config>
       <auth-method>FORM</auth-method>
       <realm-name>file</realm-name>
       <form-login-config>
           <form-login-page>/admin/login.jsp</form-login-page>
           <form-error-page>/admin/error.jsp</form-error-page>
       </form-login-config>
   </login-config>

   This entry informs the servlet container that form-based authentication is used, the realm named file should be checked for user credentials, and specifies the whereabouts of the login and error pages.
5. Click the Security tab again, then expand the Security Roles heading and click Add.
6. In the Add Security Role dialog, type in affableBeanAdmin for the role name, then click OK. The new role entry is added beneath Security Roles.
7. Click the XML tab to examine how the file has been affected. Note that the following entry has been added:

   <security-role>
       <description/>
       <role-name>affableBeanAdmin</role-name>
   </security-role>

   Here we've specified the name of a security role used with the application. We'll need to associate this role with the protected resources that define the administration console (under the Security Constraints heading below), and later we'll create this role on the GlassFish server.
8. Click the Security tab again, then click the Add Security Constraint button.
9. Type in Admin for the Display Name, then under Web Resource Collection click the Add button. Enter the following details, then when you are finished, click OK.
   • Resource Name: Affable Bean Administration
   • URL Pattern(s): /admin/*
   • HTTP Method(s): All HTTP Methods
   
10. Under the new Admin security constraint, select the Enable Authentication Constraint option and click the Edit button next to the Role Name(s) text field.
11. In the dialog that displays, select the affableBeanAdmin role in the left column, then click Add. The role is moved to the right column.
    
12. Click OK. The role is added to the Role Name(s) text field.
    
13. Click the XML tab to examine how the file has been affected. Note that the following entry has been added:

    <security-constraint>
        <display-name>Admin</display-name>
        <web-resource-collection>
            <web-resource-name>Affable Bean Administration</web-resource-name>
            <description/>
            <url-pattern>/admin/*</url-pattern>
        </web-resource-collection>
        <auth-constraint>
            <description/>
            <role-name>affableBeanAdmin</role-name>
        </auth-constraint>
    </security-constraint>

    In these previous six steps, you've created a security constraint that specifies which resources need to be protected, and identifies the role(s) that are granted access to them. Since the administration console implementation is essentially everything contained within the application's admin folder, you use a wildcard (*). Although you've specified that all HTTP methods should be protected, you could have equally selected just GET and POST, since these are the only two that are handled by the AdminServlet. As previously mentioned, the affableBeanAdmin role that we declared still needs to be created on the GlassFish server.
14. Run the project ( ) to examine how the application now handles access to the administration console.
15. When the application opens in the browser, attempt to access the administration console by entering the following URL into the browser's address bar:

    http://localhost:8080/AffableBean/admin/

    When you attempt to access the administration console, the login page is now presented.
    
16. Click the 'submit' button to attempt login. You see the error page displayed.
    

Understanding Users, Groups, and Roles

A user is a unique identity recognized by the server. You define users on the server so that it can be able to determine who should have access to protected resources. You can optionally cluster users together into a group, which can be understood as a set of authenticated users. In order to specify which users and/or groups have access to protected resources, you create roles. As stated in the Java EE 6 Tutorial,

A role is an abstract name for the permission to access a particular set of resources in an application. A role can be compared to a key that can open a lock. Many people might have a copy of the key. The lock doesn’t care who you are, only that you have the right key.

The role that a user or group is assigned to is what specifically allows the server to determine whether protected resources can be accessed. Users and groups can be assigned to multiple roles. As will be demonstrated below, you accomplish this by defining the role in the application, then mapping it to users and groups on the server.

The relationship between users, groups, and roles, and the process in which you establish them in the application and on the server, is presented in the following diagram.

For more information on groups, users, and roles, see Working with Realms, Users, Groups, and Roles in the Java EE 6 Tutorial.

Understanding Realms on the GlassFish Server

When you define users and groups on the server, you do so by entering details into a security policy domain, otherwise known as a realm. A realm protects user credentials (e.g., user names and passwords) through an authentication scheme. For example, user credentials can be stored in a local text file, or maintained in a certificate database.

The GlassFish server provides three preconfigured realms by default. These are the file, admin-realm, and certificate realms. Briefly, the file realm stores user credentials in a local text file named keyfile. The admin-realm also stores credentials in a local text file, and is reserved for server administrator users. The certificate realm, the server stores user credentials in a certificate database.

When defining users, groups and roles for the AffableBean administration console, we'll use the server's preconfigured file realm.

Create Users and/or Groups on the Server

In this step, we'll use the GlassFish Administration Console to create a user named nbuser within the preexisting file security realm. We'll also assign the new nbuser to a group that we'll create called affableBeanAdmin.

1. Open the Services window (Ctrl-5; ⌘-5 on Mac) and expand the Servers node so that the GlassFish server node is visible.
2. Ensure that the GlassFish server is running. If the server is running, a small green arrow is displayed next to the GlassFish icon ( ). If you need to start it, right-click the server node and choose Start.
3. Right-click the GlassFish server node and choose View Admin Console. The login form for the GlassFish Administration Console opens in a browser.
4. Log into the Administration Console by typing admin / adminadmin for the username / password.
5. In the Tree which displays in the left column of the Administration Console, expand the Configuration > Security > Realms nodes, then click the file realm.
   
6. In the main panel of the GlassFish Administration Console, under Edit Realm, click the Manage Users button.
7. Under File Users, click the New button.
8. Under New File Realm User, enter the following details:
   • User ID: nbuser
   • Group List: affableBeanAdmin
   • New Password: secret
   • Confirm New Password: secret
   
   Here, we are creating a user for the file security realm, which we've randomly named nbuser. We have also assigned the new user to a randomly named affableBeanAdmin group. Remember the secret password you set, as you will require it to later log into the AffableBean administration console.
9. Click OK. The new nbuser user is now listed under File Users in the GlassFish Administration Console.
   
   Optionally close the browser window for the GlassFish Administration Console, or leave it open for the time being. You will need to return to the Administration Console in the Map Roles to Users and/or Groups step below.

Define Roles in the Application

By "defining roles in the application," you specify which roles have access to EJB session beans, servlets, and/or specific methods that they contain. You can accomplish this declaratively by creating entries in the deployment descriptor, or using annotations. For the AffableBean administration console, we've actually already completed this step when we added the affableBeanAdmin role to the security constraint that we created when implementing form-based authentication. However, in more complicated scenarios you may have multiple roles, each with varying degrees of access. In such cases, implementation requires a more fine-grained access control.

The Java EE 6 API includes various security annotations that you can use in place of the XML entries you add to deployment descriptors. The availability of annotations primarily aims to offer ease of development and flexibility when coding. One common method is to use annotations within classes, but override them when necessary using deployment descriptors.

• Using Security Annotations in Servlets
• Using Security Annotations in EJBs

Using Security Annotations in Servlets

The following table lists some of the annotations available to you when applying roles to servlets.

If we wanted to apply the Servlet 3.0 annotations to declare the affableBeanAdmin role on the AdminServlet, we could do so as follows. (Changes in bold.)

@WebServlet(name = "AdminServlet",
            urlPatterns = {"/admin/",
                           "/admin/viewOrders",
                           "/admin/viewCustomers",
                           "/admin/customerRecord",
                           "/admin/orderRecord",
                           "/admin/logout"})
@ServletSecurity( @HttpConstraint(rolesAllowed = {"affableBeanAdmin"}) )
public class AdminServlet extends HttpServlet { ... }

In this case, we could then remove the corresponding entry in the web.xml deployment descriptor. (Removed content displayed as strike-through text.)

<login-config>
    <auth-method>FORM</auth-method>
    <realm-name>file</realm-name>
    <form-login-config>
        <form-login-page>/admin/login.jsp</form-login-page>
        <form-error-page>/admin/error.jsp</form-error-page>
    </form-login-config>
</login-config>

<security-constraint>
    <display-name>Admin</display-name>
    <web-resource-collection>
        <web-resource-name>Affable Bean Administration</web-resource-name>
        <description/>
        <url-pattern>/admin/*</url-pattern>
    </web-resource-collection>
    <auth-constraint>
        <description/>
        <role-name>affableBeanAdmin</role-name>
    </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

<security-role>
    <description/>
    <role-name>affableBeanAdmin</role-name>
</security-role>

Using Security Annotations in EJBs

The following table lists some of the annotations available to you when applying roles to EJBs.

To demonstrate the use of EJB security annotations, we'll apply the @RolesAllowed annotation to a method that should only be called when a user has been identified as belonging to the affableBeanAdmin role.

1. Reexamine the snapshot implementation for the AffableBean administration console. Note that in the CustomerOrderFacade session bean, a new findByCustomer method enables the AdminServlet to access a specified Customer.
2. Open the CustomerOrderFacade bean in the editor, then add the @RolesAllowed annotation to the findByCustomer method.

   @RolesAllowed("affableBeanAdmin")
   public CustomerOrder findByCustomer(Object customer) { ... }

3. Press Ctrl-Shift-I (⌘-Shift-I on Mac) to fix imports. An import statement for javax.annotation.security.RolesAllowed is added to the top of the class.
   
   The findByCustomer method is only called by the AdminServlet, which is previously authenticated into the affableBeanAdmin role using our implementation of form-based authentication. The use of the @RolesAllowed annotation here is not strictly necessary - its application simply guarantees that the method can only be called by a user who has been authenticated in the affableBeanAdmin role.

Map Roles to Users and/or Groups

We have so far accomplished the following:

• Defined the affableBeanAdmin role for our form-based authentication mechanism (either in the web.xml deployment descriptor, or as an annotation in the AdminServlet).
• Created a user named nbuser on the GlassFish server, and associated it with a group named affableBeanAdmin.

It is no coincidence that the group and role names are the same. While it is not necessary that these names be identical, this makes sense if we are only creating one-to-one matching between roles and groups. In more complicated scenarios, you can map users and groups to multiple roles providing access to different resources. In such cases, you would give unique names to groups and roles.

In order to map the affableBeanAdmin role to the affableBeanAdmin group, you have a choice of performing one of two actions. You can either create a <security-role-mapping> entry in GlassFish' sun-web.xml deployment descriptor. (In the Projects window, sun-web.xml is located within the project's Configuration Files). This would look as follows:

<security-role-mapping>
    <role-name>affableBeanAdmin</role-name>
    <group-name>affableBeanAdmin</group-name>
</security-role-mapping>

This action explicitly maps the affableBeanAdmin role to the affableBeanAdmin group. Otherwise, you can enable GlassFish' Default Principal To Role Mapping service so that roles are automatically assigned to groups of the same name.

The following steps demonstrate how to enable the Default Principal To Role Mapping service in the GlassFish Administration Console.

1. Open the Services window (Ctrl-5; ⌘-5 on Mac) and expand the Servers node so that the GlassFish server node is visible.
2. Ensure that the GlassFish server is running. If the server is running, a small green arrow is displayed next to the GlassFish icon ( ). If you need to start it, right-click the server node and choose Start.
3. Right-click the GlassFish server node and choose View Admin Console. The login form for the GlassFish Administration Console opens in a browser.
4. Log into the Administration Console by typing admin / adminadmin for the username / password.
5. In the Tree which displays in the left column of the Administration Console, expand the Configuration node, then click the Security node.
6. In the main panel of the Administration Console, select the Default Principal To Role Mapping option.
   
   

   The Java EE 6 Tutorial defines the term principal as, "An entity that can be authenticated by an authentication protocol in a security service that is deployed in an enterprise. A principal is identified by using a principal name and authenticated by using authentication data." See Working with Realms, Users, Groups, and Roles: Some Other Terminology for more information.

7. Click the Save button.
   
   At this stage, you have taken the necessary steps to enable you to log into the AffableBean administration console using the nbuser / secret username / password combination that you set earlier.
8. Run the project ( ). When the application opens in the browser, attempt the access the administration console by entering the following URL into the browser's address bar:

   http://localhost:8080/AffableBean/admin/

9. When the login page displays, enter the username and password you set earlier in the GlassFish Administration Console (nbuser / secret), then click 'submit'.
   
   Using form-based authentication, the server authenticates the client using the username and password credentials sent from the form. Because the nbuser belongs to the affableBeanAdmin group, and that group is associated with the affableBeanAdmin role, access is granted to the administration console.
10. Click the 'log out' link provided in the administration console. The nbuser is logged out of the administration console, and you are returned to the login page.
    
    The AdminServlet handles the '/logout' URL pattern by invalidating the user session:

    // if logout is requested
    if (userPath.equals("/admin/logout")) {
        session = request.getSession();
        session.invalidate();   // terminate session
        response.sendRedirect("/AffableBean/admin/");
        return;
    }

    Calling invalidate() terminates the user session. As a consequence, the authenticated user is dissociated from the active session and would need to login in again in order to access protected resources.

Verify HTTPS Support on the Server

1. Open the Services window (Ctrl-5; ⌘-5 on Mac) and expand the Servers node so that the GlassFish server node is visible.
2. Ensure that the GlassFish server is running. If the server is running, a small green arrow is displayed next to the GlassFish icon ( ). If you need to start it, right-click the server node and choose Start.
3. Switch to your browser and type the following URL into the browser's address bar:

   https://localhost:8181/

   The browser displays a warning, indicating that the server is presenting you with a self-signed certificate. In Firefox for example, the warning looks as follows.
   
4. Enable your browser to accept the self-signed certificate. With Firefox, click the Add Exception button displayed in the warning. The following pane displays, allowing you to view the certificate.
   
   Click Confirm Security Exception. A secure connection is established on port 8181, and your local development server, GlassFish, is then able to display the following page.
   
   

   Aside from the HTTPS protocol displayed in the browser's address bar, Firefox indicates that a secure connection is established with the blue background behind localhost in the address bar. Also, a lock ( ) icon displays in the lower right corner of the browser. You can click the lock icon for secure pages to review certificate details.

   The following optional steps demonstrate how you can identify this security support in the GlassFish Administration Console.
5. Open the GlassFish Administration Console in the browser. (Either type 'http://localhost:4848/' in your browser, or click the 'go to the Administration Console' link in the GlassFish server's welcome page, as displayed in the image above.)
6. In the Tree which displays in the left column of the Administration Console, expand the Configuration > Network Config nodes, then click the Network Listeners node.
   
   The main panel displays the three network listeners enabled by default on the GlassFish server. http-listener-2, which has been configured to listen over port 8181, is the network listener used for secure connections.
   
   

   For more information on network listeners, see the Oracle GlassFish Server 3.0.1 Administration Guide: About HTTP Network Listeners.

7. Under the Name column, click the link for http-listener-2. In the main panel, note that the Security checkbox is selected.
   
8. Click the SSL tab. Note that TLS is selected. In the lower portion of the SSL panel, you see the Cipher Suites that are available for the connection. As stated in the Oracle GlassFish Server 3.0.1 Administration Guide, Chapter 11: Administering System Security,

   A cipher is a cryptographic algorithm used for encryption or decryption. SSL and TLS protocols support a variety of ciphers used to authenticate the server and client to each other, transmit certificates, and establish session keys. Some ciphers are stronger and more secure than others. Clients and servers can support different cipher suites. During a secure connection, the client and the server agree to use the strongest cipher that they both have enabled for communication, so it is usually sufficient to enable all ciphers.

   At this stage, you have an understanding of how the GlassFish server supports secure connections out-of-the-box. Naturally, you could set up your own network listener, have it listen on a port other than 8181, enable SSL 3 instead of TLS (or both), or generate and sign your own digital certificates using Java's keytool management utility. You can find instructions on how to accomplish all of these tasks from the following resources:
   • The Java EE 6 Tutorial, Establishing a Secure Connection Using SSL
   • Oracle GlassFish Server 3.0.1 Administration Guide, Chapter 11: Administering System Security
   • Oracle GlassFish Server 3.0.1 Administration Guide, Chapter 16: Administering Internet Connectivity

Configure Secure Connection in the Application

This example demonstrates how to specify a secure connection using both XML in the web deployment descriptor, as well as Servlet 3.0 annotations directly in a servlet. You begin by creating an <security-constraint> entry in web.xml for the customer checkout process. Then, to create a secure connection for access to the administration console, you specify a TransportGuarantee constraint for the @HttpConstraint annotation in the AdminServlet.

1. Open the project's web.xml file in the editor. (If it is already opened, you can press Ctrl-Tab and select it.)
2. Click the Security tab along the top of the editor, then click the Add Security Constraint button.
3. Type in Checkout for the Display Name, then under Web Resource Collection click the Add button. Enter the following details, then when you are finished, click OK.
   • Resource Name: Checkout
   • URL Pattern(s): /checkout
   • HTTP Method(s): Selected HTTP Methods (GET)
   

   Note: Recall that the /checkout URL pattern is handled by the ControllerServlet's doGet method, and forwards the user to the checkout page.

4. Under the new Checkout security constraint, select the Enable User Data Constraint option, then in the Transport Guarantee drop-down, select CONFIDENTIAL.
   

   When you choose CONFIDENTIAL as a security constraint, you are instructing the server to encrypt data using TLS/SSL so that it cannot be read while in transit. For more information, see the Java EE 6 Tutorial, Specifying a Secure Connection.

5. Click the XML tab along the top of the editor. Note that the following <security-constraint> entry has been added.

   <security-constraint>
       <display-name>Checkout</display-name>
       <web-resource-collection>
           <web-resource-name>Checkout</web-resource-name>
           <url-pattern>/checkout</url-pattern>
           <http-method>GET</http-method>
       </web-resource-collection>
       <user-data-constraint>
           <description/>
           <transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>
       </user-data-constraint>
   </security-constraint>

   Configuration for the customer checkout process is now complete. To ensure that a secure connection is applied for access to the administration console, simply specify that any requests handled by the AdminServlet are transmitted over a secure channel.
6. Open the AdminServlet. Press Alt-Shift-O (Ctrl-Shift-O on Mac) and in the Go to File dialog, type 'admin', then click OK.
7. Use the @HttpConstraint annotation's transportGuarantee element to specify a CONFIDENTIAL security constraint. Make the following change (in bold).

   @WebServlet(name = "AdminServlet",
               urlPatterns = {"/admin/",
                              "/admin/viewOrders",
                              "/admin/viewCustomers",
                              "/admin/customerRecord",
                              "/admin/orderRecord",
                              "/admin/logout"})
   @ServletSecurity(
       @HttpConstraint(transportGuarantee = TransportGuarantee.CONFIDENTIAL,
                       rolesAllowed = {"affableBeanAdmin"})
   )
   public class AdminServlet extends HttpServlet { ... }

8. Press Ctrl-Shift-I (⌘-Shift-I on Mac) to fix imports. An import statement for javax.servlet.annotation.ServletSecurity.TransportGuarantee is added to the top of the class.
9. Run the project ( ) to examine the application's behavior in a browser.
10. In the browser, step through the AffableBean website by selecting a product category and adding several items to your shopping cart. Then click the 'proceed to checkout' button. The website now automatically switches to a secure channel when presenting the checkout page. You see the HTTPS protocol displayed in the browser's address bar, and the port is changed to 8181.
    
    Also, in Firefox, note the lock ( ) icon displayed in the lower right corner of the browser.
11. Investigate security for the administration console. Type in the following URL into the browser's address bar:

    http://localhost:8080/AffableBean/admin/

    The website now automatically switches to a secure channel when presenting the checkout page. You see the HTTPS protocol displayed in the browser's address bar, and the port is changed to 8181.
    

    Note: You way wonder at this point how it is possible to switch from a secure connection back to a normal, unsecured one. This practice however is not recommended. The Java EE 6 Tutorial explains as follows:

    If you are using sessions, after you switch to SSL you should never accept any further requests for that session that are non-SSL. For example, a shopping site might not use SSL until the checkout page, and then it might switch to using SSL to accept your card number. After switching to SSL, you should stop listening to non-SSL requests for this session. The reason for this practice is that the session ID itself was not encrypted on the earlier communications. This is not so bad when you’re only doing your shopping, but after the credit card information is stored in the session, you don’t want a bad guy trying to fake the purchase transaction against your credit card. This practice could be easily implemented using a filter.

NetBeans Resources

• Securing a Web Application
• Introduction to Java EE Technology
• Getting Started with Java EE 6 Applications
• Keyboard Shortcuts & Code Templates Card
• Java EE & Java Web Learning Trail

External Resources

• The Java EE 6 Tutorial, Chapter 24: Introduction to Security in the Java EE Platform
• The Java EE 6 Tutorial, Chapter 25: Getting Started Securing Web Applications
• The Java EE 6 Tutorial, Chapter 26: Getting Started Securing Enterprise Applications
• Oracle GlassFish Server 3.0.1 Administration Guide
• Security Annotations and Authorization in GlassFish and the Java EE 5 SDK
• Java EE 6: Application Security Enhancements
• Getting Started with Java EE Security [RefCard]
• HTTP Secure [Wikipedia]
• Public key certificate [Wikipedia]