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Signing and Encrypting SOAP Messages

The Web Services Enhancements (WSE) enables the digital signing and/or encryption of SOAP messages. When digitally signed using an XML digital signature, SOAP messages can be cryptographically verified to be unaltered since they were signed. Digitally signing a SOAP message allows a recipient to cryptographically verify that the message has not been altered since it was signed. Encrypting and decrypting SOAP messages can be key to securing a Web application, because SOAP messages are by default plain text and thus can be read by any recipient. An encrypted SOAP message is cryptographically encoded, so that only the owner of a private key or a symmetric key can read the contents of the message.

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