Securing Intranet Services

Internal applications that run on an intranet and share the same Windows domain as the services they invoke can usually take advantage of a compact binary protocol like TCP for distributed communications. In a classic client-server scenario involving distributed intranet services, the following security settings may apply:

  • The service will be self-hosted in a Windows service or hosted in the Windows Activation Service (WAS) for TCP access.

  • Windows credentials are used for mutual authentication.

  • Client credentials are authenticated and authorized against the Windows domain using Windows membership and role providers.

  • Messages are encrypted and signed at the transport layer.

  • The service implements role-based permission demands for protected operations.

  • The service applies a trusted subsystem model instead of impersonating Windows accounts.

Figure 7-4 illustrates this scenario.

Intranet clients on the same Windows domain can rely on TCP protocol and use Windows credentials for mutual authentication and message protection

Figure 7-4. Intranet clients on the same Windows domain can rely on TCP protocol and use Windows credentials for mutual authentication and message protection

This section will focus on the intranet application scenario and explain security concepts specific to that scenario. You’ll complete a lab implementing many of these concepts, and then I’ll discuss the following in greater detail:

  • Security features of NetNamedPipeBinding and NetTcpBinding

  • Windows role-based security

  • Client and server ...

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