Java Security

Summary

The class loading mechanism is integral to Java’s security features. Typically this integration is considered in light of the relationship between the class loader and the security manager. However, the class loader is important in its own right. The class loader must enforce the namespace separation between classes that are loaded from different sites (especially when these different sites are untrusted). Newer versions of the class loader (in Java 1.2) provide an easier route for developers of class loaders, and they provide more hooks into the access controller.

For sites that need a more flexible security policy, a different class loader may be desirable. For example, a class loader that allows programs within a protected, internal network to load class files from several machines on that internal network is particularly useful for extending the advantages that the Java model brings to program distribution. Other variations on this theme are possible—as long as the implementor remembers to keep the security requirements of Java’s namespace model in mind when such variations are designed.

In the next chapters, we’ll look in depth at Java’s security manager and Java’s protection domains, and see how the class loader and these features together further enforce Java’s security policies.