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Java security: How to install the security manager and customize your security policy

Learn about the security manager and the Java API, what remains unprotected by the security manager, and security beyond the JVM architecture

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Besides openness, there are several other aspects to Java's overall security strategy that don't directly involve its architecture. You can find links to more information about these in the Resources section at the bottom of this article.

Conclusion

The security manager contributes to the JVM's security model by establishing a custom security policy for Java applications. For the security policy to be "bullet proof," both the Java API and the security manager itself must be implemented properly. A bug in either of these can result in a security hole that malicious programmers could exploit.

The customizable nature of the security manager is one of the strengths of Java's security architecture. The security manager's "check" methods are just Java code, so you are free to decide the exact circumstances in which your application will permit potentially unsafe actions. If you can express an algorithm in Java code as a "check" method of the security manager, that algorithm can be part of your application's custom security policy.

About the author

Bill Venners has been writing software professionally for 12 years. Based in Silicon Valley, he provides software consulting and training services under the name Artima Software Company. Over the years he has developed software for the consumer electronics, education, semiconductor, and life insurance industries. He has programmed in many languages on many platforms: assembly language on various microprocessors, C on Unix, C++ on Windows, Java on the Web. He is author of the book: Inside the Java Virtual Machine, published by McGraw-Hill.
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Resources