News Release: W3C Launches Secure Browsing Initiative

Today, W3C launches new work with the goal of bringing more secure  
browsing to people using the Web. "When I'm browsing the Web, I want  
my browser to help me understand who really is the owner of a Web  
page," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "There is much deployed  
and proven security technology, but we now need to connect it all the  
way through to the Web user."  For more information, please contact  
Janet Daly, +1 617 253 5884 <janet@w3.org> or the W3C Communications  
Staff in your region.


W3C Launches Secure Browsing Initiative
"Security Context" Important Step Toward Fraud Prevention

Web Resources

This press release
	In English: http://www.w3.org/2006/10/security-pressrelease.html.en
	In French: http://www.w3.org/2006/10/security-pressrelease.html.fr
	In Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2006/10/security-pressrelease.html.ja

W3C Security Activity
	http://www.w3.org/Security/
	
Web Security Context Working Group
	http://www.w3.org/2006/WSC/

Contact America --
     Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe --
     Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
     Yasuyuki Hirakawa, <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

http://www.w3.org/ -- 17 October 2006 -- Recognizing the challenges  
people face when browsing the Web, W3C today launched an initiative  
to build a foundation for a more secure Web. The new Web Security  
Context Working Group will propose standards that will enable  
browsers to do a much better job helping people make proper trust  
decisions.

"When I'm browsing the Web, I want my browser to help me understand  
who really is the owner of a Web page," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C  
Director. "There is much deployed and proven security technology, but  
we now need to connect it all the way through to the Web user. A Web  
browser acts on my behalf as I surf the Web, and I need more help  
from it to avoid being spoofed."

The group's mission is threefold: to build consensus around what  
information people need from browsers in order to understand their  
"security context," to find innovative ways to present this  
information and raise awareness, and to suggest ways to make browsers  
less susceptible to spoofing of user interfaces that are used to  
convey critical security information to end users.

Successful Security Workshop Culminates in Focus on Security Context

W3C chartered this new work after a successful Workshop on Usability  
and Transparency of Web Authentication in March 2006 (see press  
release). That Workshop paired Google, HP, IBM, KDE, Microsoft,  
Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, Sun Microsystems, VeriSign, Yahoo! and many  
other organizations with leaders of the online finance community to  
learn about real world threats.

The Workshop demonstrated that there is significant interest in the  
areas of secure interfaces and the data required from content  
providers to enable those interfaces. W3C therefore anticipates  
strong participation by browser vendors, security experts, research  
institutes, financial institutions, and end users in the new group.  
The group will also coordinate with other organizations that have  
expertise in this area, including the IETF, OASIS, and Liberty Alliance.

The charter of the Web Security Context Working Group is the result  
of public discussion and review. Per the charter, the group will  
continue to conduct its technical work in public and will operate  
under the W3C Royalty-Free Patent Policy. Mary Ellen Zurko of IBM  
serves as Chair of the Web Security Context Working Group. The group  
is part of W3C's Security Activity, led by Thomas Roessler.

About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium  
where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work  
together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission  
through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to  
ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 400 organizations are  
Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer  
Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the  
USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics  
(ERCIM) headquartered in France, Keio University in Japan, and has  
additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http:// 
www.w3.org/

Received on Tuesday, 17 October 2006 14:00:44 UTC