Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA)

   CDSA is a multiplatform, industry standard security infrastructure.  It
   provides a standards-based, stable programming interface that applications
   can use to access operating system security services,  allowing developers
   to create cross-platform, security-enabled applications. Applications
   request security services, such as cryptography and other public key
   operations, through a dynamically extensible application programming
   interface (API).  These requests are serviced by a set of plug-in security
   service modules (SPIs), which  can be supplemented or changed as business
   needs and   technologies evolve.

   The heart of CDSA is the Common Security Services Manager (CSSM), which
   defines both the application API and the service provider interface (SPI)
   for plug-in security service modules. CSSM includes a set  of core
   services that are common  to all categories of security services,
   performing such functions as integrity verification and authentication.

   Available types of plug-in modules include cryptographic services (CSP),
   certificate library (CL), data library (DL), trust policy (TP) and
   authorization computation (AC). CSSM is extensible.

   Applications call functions in the CSSM API, which is fully specified by
   the CDSA technical standard located at
   http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009609799/. API function names are
   prefaced with CSSM_ and sometimes followed by  the designation of the
   module that will actually handle the request. For instance, an application
   calls CSSM_DL_DbOpen() to direct a DL module to open a data  store. The
   associated service provider interface (SPI) for the module would be
   DL_DbOpen().

   An application begins by initializing its connection to CSSM using the
   CSSM_Init() routine. It might use Module Directory Services (MDS) to query
   for available  modules  and their supported functionality, or it might
   hardcode to a particular module's global unique identifier (GUID).  The
   application loads the desired module using the CSSM_ModuleLoad() routine
   and then attaches to it using the CSSM_ModuleAttach() routine.

 SEE ALSO

   CDSA guides, located in CDSA_SYSDIR:[DOCS]:

     ·  Intel CDSA Application Developer's Guide
     .  Intel CDSA Service Provider Developer's Guide
     .  Intel CDSA Manifest Signing Tools User's Guide

   For Open Source CDSA information and source:

   http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdsa/

   For general CDSA and security information:

     ·  http://www.intel.com/ial/security/

     ·  http://www.opengroup.org/security/l2-cdsa.htm