which the IdP runs (Tomcat, for example) can also be used. Shibboleth 2.0 Shibboleth 2.0 builds on SAML 2.0 standards. The IdP in Shibboleth 2.0 has to do additional processing in order to support passive and forced authentication requests in SAML 2.0. The SP can request a specific method of authentication from the IdP. Shibboleth 2.0 supports additional encryption capacity. Attributes Shibboleth's access control is performed by matching attributes supplied by IdPs against rules defined by SPs. An attribute is any piece of information about a user, such as "member of this community", "Alice Smith", or "licensed under contract A". User identity is considered an attribute, and is only passed when explicitly required, which preserves user privacy. Attributes can be written in Java or pulled from directories and databases. Standard X.520 attributes are most commonly used, but new attributes can be arbitrarily defined as long as they are understood and interpreted similarly by the IdP and SP in a transaction. Trust Trust between domains is implemented using public key cryptography (often simply TLS server certificates) and metadata that describes providers. The use of information passed is controlled through agreements. Federations are often used to simplify these relationships by aggregating large numbers of providers that agree to use common rules and contracts. Development Shibboleth is open-source and provided under the Apache 2 license. Many extensions have been contributed by other groups. Adoption Federations have been formed in many countries around the world to build trust structures for the exchange of information using SAML and Shibboleth software. Many major content providers support Shibboleth-based access. In February 2006, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland announced that it would move from the Athens authentication system to an access-management system based on Shibboleth technology. Since then it has updated its position and is endorsing a federated access management solution rather than Shibboleth itself. See also OpenAthens References External links Official Shibboleth 1.x Wiki Official Shibboleth 2.x Wiki Official Shibboleth IdP 3.x Wiki Official Shibboleth IdP 4.x Wiki Internet Standards Federated identity Identity management initiative