Securing web services

A method for securing a Web Service, the method comprising:

• sending one or more invocations to the Web Service after discovering the Web Service.

A computer readable medium comprising programming instructions for a web server coupled to a network for serving service requests, the web server linked to a plurality of clients, the programming instructions comprising:

• discovering the Web Service in response to a service request;
• and
• determining an access policy for the Web Service separately from the actual service based on the service request.

A system for securing a Web Service, the system comprising:

• a client that sends a service request for a Web Service over a network;
• and
• a web server coupled to said network to serve the Web Service across different administrative domains based on a pre-computed policy.

A system for securing a Web Service;

• wherein the web server further comprises:
• an interface coupled to a cache for storing identity and access policy information.

A system for securing a Web Service, wherein the web server further comprises:

• an access controller including a policy engine to evaluate access policies and encode its decision in a security token.

A system for securing a Web Service, wherein the web server further comprises:

• a module for securing a Web Service based on an access policy determined for the Web Service separately from the actual service based on a service request.