(October 24, 2002) - With the proliferation of XML Web services traffic, data security continues to be a corporate concern. XML Web services are so easy to use that much of the SOAP traffic across a corporate network may be unknown - and possibly unsanctioned - traffic. "Because Web services pass through traditional firewalls, many enterprises are unaware of the sensitive data that may be flowing on their networks. As Web services become more prevalent on the desktop, the problem of unauthorized or sensitive SOAP traffic on the network will only get worse," said Jason Bloomberg, senior analyst at ZapThink.

Brian Cameron, from Forrester Research, writes, "[The] use of Web services will proliferate beyond the reach of IT's normal approach to software development, deployment, and operation. Why? Any developer can build a SOAP interface, any manager can fund it, and any app can call the interface. Tiny two-hour Web services development tasks will sneak past IT's governance radar. The CIOs we spoke with don't anticipate Web services projects to run amuck because they don't recognize the power of this simple technology, which is akin to HTML Web sites in the mid-1990s."

To address this problem, Westbridge Technology, Inc., has just released the Westbridge XML SOAP Monitor, enabling enterprises to monitor their networks for XML Web services traffic without requiring changes to the network. This lightweight application plugs into any router mirror port and unobtrusively monitors all network traffic for unauthorized SOAP traffic. Application architects, security analysts, and IT operations staff can easily detect SOAP traffic, view the content of the message for sensitive information and view the sender and receiver of each message. Filtering occurs in near real-time or to log file for later processing.

The Westbridge XML SOAP Monitor is available on Windows and many Unix platforms including Linux and Solaris. It can operate standalone or in conjunction with the Westbridge XML Message Server (XMS). While the Westbridge XML SOAP Monitor reports on unauthorized traffic, the Westbridge XMS enforces security policies and enable administrators to protect and control their XML and Web service networks.

The XML SOAP Monitor is free for qualified organizations. For more information, see http://www.westbridgetech.com/soapmonitor.html.