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One of the most exciting features introduced with HTML5 was support for WebSockets. The WebSocket protocol has been through a lot of churn over the last two years, with browser vendors desperately trying to keep pace with changes in the specification. Thankfully, the standard has now become stable enough to be utilized in enterprise projects.
The beauty the WebSocket protocol is that it lets an application seamlessly move from an HTTP/Web-based flow into a socket-based conversation and then back to a Web-based flow. In this way, it allows Web- and mobile-based applications to easily move from the traditional request-reply HTTP world into new forms of full-duplex, bi-directional communication.
We’ve seen a similar evolution in the past within the message-oriented middleware world. With the emergence of SOA and API, enterprises realized they needed new ways of moving data around and middleware technologies emerged that facilitated the movement of data in ways that were not possible with existing request-reply synchronous messaging infrastructures.
Traditionally, Web and mobile applications had to work hard in order to send or receive real-time data. Now, developers can use WebSocket to move data up and down the communication channel quickly and efficiently. This is like moving from an email client that requires you to constantly check for new mail to one that instantly alerts you when a new email arrives.
This style of communication will provide enormous benefits for applications that require messages to be passed quickly between the client and server. Architects will have an easier time building applications with real-time messaging requirements, opening the door to some very intriguing solution designs. Targeted notification systems, more-responsive UIs and even complex architectures such as massive grid networks built on top of the Web will be much easier to implement properly.
But, what’s missing from the WebSocket story is an effective way of minding the gates. The “black hat” guys already see WebSockets as representing a new attack surface, so organizations that are serious about providing reliable, scalable solutions will require some form of Gateway on the server side, to guard against security breaches.
To address WebSocket security, a Gateway must be able to enforce SSL handshakes, limit the number of connection requests, protect against payload injection attacks and enforce strong authentication methods – the same set of attack vectors that exist for SOAP/XML Web services and REST/JSON APIs.
That’s why I’m particularly excited about Layer 7′s recently-announced SecureSpan Mobile Access Gateway product. The Mobile Access Gateway extends Layer 7’s industry-leading technology for SOA and API in order to address mobile-specific concerns – and it includes a very secure WebSocket implementation.
In addition to the security benefits, the Gateway can be used to enrich or filter data in real-time. This opens the door to a new set of compelling use cases that includes data auditing, image watermarking and blacklist filtering – possibilities intriguing enough to stand on their own as justifications for implementing a WebSocket Gateway.
So, we’ve discussed what the WebSocket protocol is and why it’s so important to keep WebSockets secure. But how does all this fit into the exciting world of APIs that we’ve been focusing on in many of our recent blog posts? Our Principal API Architect Mike Admundsen will tackle this question next week, in our continuing series on this very important protocol.
