Kerberos Security in a Client-Server System Management Application

Heterogeneity of distributed computing systems has taken root in most companies at the end of the last century. The effort for administration has increased dramatically due to the plurality of different solutions for System Management. The Web Based Enterprise Management initiative establishes an infrastructure for such kind of System Management Applications with a common and standardized interface. From the security point of view there is a strong need to protect these sensitive management data from unauthorized access. The Authentication Service Kerberos provides a system for authentication within distributed and open networks where the principle of a trusted third party is used. This Bachelor Report gives an overview how to describe management information using the Common Information Model and how it is embedded into the entire framework of Web Based Enterprise Management. The Authentication Protocol Kerberos is described, which is used to enable a sophisticated and scalable authentication mechanism for this architecture and also provides a Single-Sign-On environment. The integration of Kerberos into this architecture using the Generic Security Service Application Programming Interface is analyzed and the problems between the Linux and the Windows implementation are discussed.