WebSphere brand IBM WebSphere Telecom Web Services Server, Version 7.1

Authentication and encryption

The Parlay Connector authenticates with the Parlay gateway to ensure that is a valid client for the gateway and to ensure that the gateway is a valid server for the Parlay Connector. You can configure the gateway to use encryption during the authentication process.

After the Parlay Connector has obtained the initial access object (IpInitial) of the Parlay gateway, the Parlay Connector must authenticate with the gateway to ensure that it is an authorized client of the Parlay gateway. The connector also authenticates with the gateway to ensure that the gateway is a valid server for the connector.

The Parlay 3.x authentication method has been upgraded to the Parlay 4.x authentication method sequence, but is still compatible with the 3.x method. Parlay 3.x and 4.x services are supported. The authentication process uses the standard Parlay APIs defined by the Parlay Group. The Parlay specification defines the authentication processing flow however, procedures for applying encryption during authentication may vary.

The Parlay 4.x authentication process changes the encryption mechanisms to hashing mechanisms. Hashing methods produces a one way digest which will be used as digital signatures and sent to the other party. The party who has initiated the challenge will also generate a signature, using the agreed authentication mechanism (hashing mechanism). A comparison of both these signatures completes the authentication procedure.

The Parlay Connector uses configuration data to control dynamic loading of the gateway authentication classes. Because of this you can either accept the default gateway authentication classes or configure your own customized gateway authentication classes.

If the Parlay gateway requires that different key sets be used, you need custom software either for authentication or for signing service agreements. Configure the additional keys as custom parameters for the customized software. If no other reason exists for custom software for these processes, implement a custom authenticator class and a custom authenticator callback class.

You might configure customized authentication classes if the default implementations cannot be configured to authenticate with your Parlay gateway. During the authentication process, you can configure the default gateway authentication classes for customization. If you use customized gateway authentication classes, they are passed as a hash table containing the Parlay Connector configuration and state information.




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