WEDDS: the WITS encrypted data delivery system

WEDDS, the WITS Encrypted Data Delivery System, is a framework for supporting distributed mission operations by automatically transferring sensitive mission data in a secure and efficient manner to and from remote mission participants over the Internet. WEDDS was orimally developed as part of WITS, the Web Interface for Telescience, and was to be used in the 1998 Mars Polar Lander Mission to support distributed mission operations over the Internet for the first time in NASA history. WEDDS is written in Java, and is designed to provide secure distributed operations capabilities to any existing mission application with little modification, and in a manner that is nearly transparent to the existing application and its users. WEDDS relies on the NASA Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to verify the identity of remote users. Remote users must apply in person at a NASA security office or another trusted security authority in order to receive a digital certificate. All connections are made using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol in conjunction with the user´s certificate, and all transmissions are protected against eavesdropping through encryption with the Triple-DESEDE3 algorithm