Effective XML: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your XML

Item 49. Hide Confidential Data with XML Encryption

As web services based on SOAP, REST, and XML-RPC explode in popularity, more and more sensitive data is passed around the Internet as XML documents. This includes data thieves might want to use for illicit financial gain, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, account numbers, and more. It includes data governments might want to use to attack opponents, such as names, addresses, political beliefs, donor lists, and so forth. It includes data users might simply wish to keep private for its own sake, such as medical records and sexual preferences. There are large incentives for bad people to try to read XML documents moving from one system to another. XML encryption can help prevent ...