Java is fashionable, but is it reliable? Java is entertaining, but is it secure? Java is useful, but is it safe?

The purpose of this book is to answer those questions, from the point of view of people who want to use Java, but want to do so reliably, securely and safely. That makes this book different from much recent writing on Java, which focuses, perfectly legitimately, on how a Java system can be broken into and how to avoid those dangers. On the contrary, this book focuses on how Java can be made secure and how to exploit its strengths. The goal is to provide practical help to the various groups involved in making a Java-based application or Web site into an industrial-strength commercial proposition.

Various groups have different needs and different skills, which this book meets in its different parts.

* The first part is aimed at the intelligent non-specialist who oversees system management or application development, or incorporates Java into the security policy. Only a basic understanding of computers and a limited exposure to Java is assumed, but all the themes of Java security are introduced in a context that stresses over and over again how Java security must be seen as an integral part of system security.
* The second part goes into more detail on how Java security works, and is aimed more at system and network administrators and programmers, who need to know more of what is going on.
* The third part looks at the broader context in which Java operates, including some extensions to Java security and some aspects of its future.

This book explains the evolution of the Java security model, andthenfocuses on the Java 2 security architecture and its revolutionary domains of protection. It offers a very large number of examples to give you a better understanding of the technology involved.