Preferred Education Background for an Accountant

An accountant can be defined as any person who carries out accounting task like preparation and presentation of financial reports to the policy makers so that they can make sound decisions, which will enable the organization to achieve its goals. The scope of the accounting work depends entirely on the size of the organization and the individual’s specialization. It is in this interest therefore this paper is written. The qualification of an accountant varies from one country to another and individual’s specialization but basically it involves some education background and certification by a recognized body Accounting involves many financial calculations like balancing of sheets and therefore it is inevitable for people who are planning to take a career in accounting to be good and to have interest in mathematics, be analytical to compare and interpret fingers easily. Still to be noted here is the importance of good written and spoken English. Preparation, analysis and presentation of financial reports require one to be good in both written and spoken English. Accountants should be able to clearly communicate their ideas and to air their views clearly to the managers and clients. Another important thing in accounting is the general knowledge in law like the business law as well as good understanding and interpretation of business terminologies. This comes in hardy when an individual is involved in tendering or taking contracts on behalf of the organization. Technology is another requirement, which cannot go unmentioned because of its importance in accounting. Accountants should be very familiar with business systems and office automation systems such as the accounting computer packages. Based on the above discussion, accountant as a career requires a minimum of Bachelors degree in business studies or any other field where the above mentioned areas are taught like statistics. Many companies in the modern society need accountants with Masters Degrees in business administration with specialization in accounting. The state requires all accountants to be certified for them to be recognized. The certified public accountant certificate CPA is issued by the state through the state board of accountancy. Some states in America require accountants to be university graduates while others demand some working experience in the field of accounting. The later seems to have been adopted by many states together with the corresponding curriculum changes and therefore it is important to scrutinize the requirements of the sate in which they are planning to register with. Citification involves four sections of CPA examination in all the states which is set and marked by the American institute of certified public accountants. Passing examination in the four sections is important for one to be certified. Although it is not necessary to pass all the four sections exam at once, many states puts a limit of two exams compounded by considerable experience for them to give you credit. It is important to understand that one cannot proceed to the next section before passing the previous sections. In conclusion therefore, accounting is a dynamic and noble career which requires determined people to succeed. It was pointed out that accounting requires individuals of high integrity, high amplitude in mathematics, good written and spoken English and analytical people. It was also discussed that the minimum qualification is a Bachelors degree in business studies or any other relevant courses. Certification is inevitable and involves passing four exams in the four sections.

Tourism, a factor of sustainable development

All forms of tourism development that are conducive to saving rare and precious resources, in particular water and energy, as well as avoiding so far as possible waste production, should be given priority and encouraged by national, regional and local public authorities; To minimize the use of scarce and non-renewable resources in the development and operation of tourism facilities and services. A sustainable future depends on the careful management of resources to ensure their availability for present and future generations. Resources that are non-renewable, in limited supply, or essential for life support are of particular concern. These include land, fresh water, forests, minerals and fossil fuels. Conservation of energy is important, especially where it is derived from non-renewable resources. Tourism is a signiï ¬ cant user of resources in many areas. Ensuring that it uses resources eï ¬Æ'ciently is important both for the wellbeing of the local environment and host community and in maintaining global resources. Eï ¬Æ'cient use of resources, notably energy derived from fossil fuels, is also important in the reduction of polluting emissions. Resource eï ¬Æ'ciency in tourism will be achieved largely by changing the consumption patterns of tourists and tourism enterprises. Enterprises should be encouraged to establish environmental management systems to minimize impacts and drive a process of continual improvement. To minimize the pollution of air, water and land and the generation of waste by tourism enterprises and visitors. Maintaining environmental purity means reducing waste and harmful emissions to the environment in order to preserve the quality of the air, water and land that sustain life, health and biodiversity. Actions should address all aspects of pollution prevention and control throughout the lifecycle of tourism development, during and after the use of facilities, as well as the impacts of tourists themselves. Although local impacts on the environment, such as local air and water quality, are the most immediately apparent to local communities and to visitors, the tourism industry also has global environmental impacts. Governments need to recognize the responsibilities towards both the global and the local environment that are inherent in maintaining environmental purity. There is a need for a profound change in the way we generate and use energy and in other activities that release greenhouse and other gases into the atmosphere. Global pollution may also impact many local destinations through the consequences of climate change. As with promoting resource eï ¬Æ'ciency, waste and pollution control will be achieved largely by changing the consumption patterns of tourists and tourism enterprises. This should be a key component of individual environmental management systems within enterprises.

Social Observation Paper

I decided for my social observation the mall would be a good place to start. I came there on a Friday evening when there should be plenty of people to watch. I also sat in the Barnes and Noble cafe after that to observe. I expected to see a lot of people shopping and conversing. A few things did stand out to me within the few hours I was there. Some things I didn’t expect to see. We are expected to behave a certain way in public determined by our culture as to what is acceptable. Some people stay well within the lines while some might stray outside the norms but never too far typically.Usually the ones to travel to the extremes are adolescents and teenagers. This is what I observed. As I sat in the chair near the entrance to Bergner’s I noticed a couple groups1 of kids, they looked like they were probably in 8th grade or near there. One group totaled six kids and you could tell who the leaders with high status2 were in the group. They displayed achieved status3 and walk ed in the middle typically with couple others following behind trying to keep up and stay in the conversation.I call it achieved status because they had more confidence and walked taller than the others, of course they could be from a rich family but from visual evidence achieved status seems to be the case here. The group seemed playful and was very pushy towards one another. While the leaders looked like they came out on top and were more dominant keeping the others in line, and sometimes ignoring the other members of the group, showing they weren’t impressed by them. Another Group was smaller with only three kids in it.These kids seemed like they had less energy and were more of wandering at a leisurely pace compared to the other group which was moving swiftly. Both groups walked by about three times, apparently they had nothing better to do with their time and weren’t shopping. I’m assuming they were probably dropped off by their parents to hang out at the m all with their friends and maybe get some food at the food court. Another idea is that their parents could be busy shopping and they are just wandering while their parents are busy, I think this is less probable.The larger group was Dominated by all males, which is another thing I didn’t expect. You would think that the group would have at least one or two females in it, statistically speaking. The smaller group was female dominated with two females and a single male in it. I observed the male and he didn’t seem to follow his gender role4. This made me think because I have a gay friend and homosexual men seem to familiarize with females more easily than heterosexual males.Also I noticed a trend that most gay men spent most of their time being raised by their mother with a more distant or even non-existent father figure. It is probably not fair to make assumptions about the lone male in the group, but I’m assuming he fits in this stereotype5. The other thing I no ticed about this group is that they all seemed to be equal; there wasn’t one that put themselves before the others. I also sat in the cafe at Barnes and Noble for a while and observed socialization and interactions. The first people I noticed when I was sitting were a couple walking through the store.The Female had her man by the hand, I noticed her hand was palm down, signifying authority, and was leading him off somewhere, maybe she was in a hurry to get somewhere or had just caught him eying another female. Either way she seemed to be the more dominant one in the relationship, which does not correspond with gender roles or the typical culture6 of ours. The next thing I noticed were the people sitting in the cafe. There were pairs of people everywhere, there were people sitting by themselves reading but there were a lot of groups of two, but never a group more than two.This to me was interesting and I asked why this might be. I came to the conclusion that the coffee shop is a more intimate setting to socialize one on one, also the space was smaller so that could have contributed to the fact too. I noticed an elderly couple, they seemed to comfortable and familiar with each other that they didn’t need to even communicate verbally they could sort of sense what the other wanted and then asked a question. For example I noticed the man shifted his body and glanced toward snack sign, luckily I was within earshot to hear the conversations of the people around me.She knew right away the old man was hungry and asked him if he wanted a cheesecake, Apparently this was one of his favorites cause he said â€Å"heck yeah! †. The couple did not display value7 over one another, but rather value for each other. This was my day out evaluating the interactions and socialization of our local people here in Rockford. I am curious to see what kind of interactions I would see at a market in indo-china and how different that would be to our culture here. It mig ht be so different that I couldn’t understand it.I learned a lot by watching the people and found a few interesting things. Like how groups of teenagers with time can be so full of confidence and have what seems like all the time in the world on their hands. Also on the other side of the spectrum are the seniors I observed that seemed to be content and also have all the time in the world. While it seems for me there are not enough hours in a day to get everything I need done. 1. Groups: a number of people or things that are classed together 2.Status: The economic or social level of an individual 3. Achieved Status: The level of status gained through effort or work 4. Gender Role: The social expectations of a male or female individual 5. Stereotype: an unreliable generalization about all members of a group 6. Culture: the totality of learned socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. 7. Value: a collective conception of what is considered good, de sirable, and proper-or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

The 7-Eleven company and Indian industry based on PEST analysis Essay

The 7-Eleven company and Indian industry based on PEST analysis - Essay Example The retail industry is India’s main source of income and it is thought that it would be the future of India in the coming years because of the improvement that are being done to it. Most of the urban middle class citizens rely hugely on this industry for their income. However, food and grocery are too contributing greatly to the country’s economy and it is a big part of the retail industry in India. According to research, the food retail industry is growing at a vast rate thought to be approximately 30% and it is believed that the food retail industry would be the driving force in India’s economy. This has been brought about by the pest analysis that is duly understood and used by the retail industries in India (Byars 1999) . The success of any market industry hugely depends on the environment in which the business organization is situated. The study of the environment clearly shows the factors that would affect the demand and supply patterns of a commodity, as w ell as the cost of the commodity. This is the criteria behind pest analysis that incorporates the idea of understanding the business environment, identifying the factors that would affect the the important variables in an organization that would in turn affect the organization’s demand and supply patterns and the cost of the commodity. The small changes that occur in society affects the operation of an organization in one way or the other and moreover they create an uncertain business environment that affects the functioning of the whole organization (Cooper 2000). Therefore the development of the pest analysis was mainly as a result of the business organizations wanting to know the number of possible issues that affect the business industry and how they would take advantage of their competitors (Porter 1985). This is aimed at enabling the organization to deliver quality services and attract more customers in the industry. Pest analysis therefore groups the environmental fact ors that affect the functioning of the organization into political, social, economical and technological factors. In addition, PEST analysis examines the effect of these factors and how they interplay each other in the business. Clearly using PEST analysis enables a business organization to take advantage of market opportunities and know how to deal with the competitive threats in the business and the strategic plans of the organization. It is important for an organization to look at the environment before deciding on investing in the new area. The environment dictates the people and other factors that affect the business and thus understanding them is vital to the business success. Environmental analysis should be continuous and it is a show of how the company would plan for the future including coming up with new strategies for the business. An organization’s marketing environment is made up of an internal environment, the micro-environment and the macro-environment. Intern al environment includes the technology being used in the office, the internal customers, or how employees are paid. The micro-environment include customers from other parts outside the country, agents and distributors, suppliers of raw materials and the competitors. While the macro-environment include factors such as political and legal factors, economic forces in a given religion. The understanding of these factors and how they affected the Indian industries was a major driving force to the interest and success of the 7-Eleven company in India. PEST analysis has brought about the rapid rise of the food industry in India especially in the 7-Eleven retail giant founded in Texas where it has developed large food stores. Kottler (1998) believes that PEST analysis is a nice business tool that can be used to identify the market growth or the decline of the market and the future directions of

Managing across Cultures ( My sis ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managing across Cultures ( My sis ) - Essay Example Models of Cultural Dimension Hofstede Model Geert Hofstede cultural dimension theory was introduced in 1993. While working in international business it becomes essential to understand the different cultures of the people and based on this various decision can be taken. In this theory different management concept and practices in different countries has been evaluated by analysing five dimensions of culture. Power Distance: It is the extent to which inequality between the powers of the people of a country is distributed. High power distance based cultures are generally hierarchical in nature in which everybody is placed. Low power distance culture implies equalisation of power and wants justification of power inequalities when it occurs. France and India are examples of countries that are high in power distance. The Netherlands is a country that is low in power distance. ... It has been found that men are considered violent and competitive, whereas women are supposed to be gentle and are concerned with home and family. Uncertainty Avoidance: It defines the point at which a value of the culture is predictable in nature and whether the people assume new ideas as risky or challenge. Hofstede finds that people who prefer to avoid uncertainty believe in the rules that are made to be followed. They should be with the organisation for a lifetime and for this uncertainty level there is stressful life. Japan is an example of a country that is high in uncertainty avoidance. India and the US are examples of countries that are low in uncertainty avoidance. Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term Orientation: It is the cultural attribute that focuses on whether people is focussed on long term benefit such as saving money for the future or on the short term basis that like abide by the various social responsibility and traditions (Changing Minds, 2011). Source: (Desig ned for Africa, 2010). While working overseas in different countries with different people, at first their national culture with these dimensions is to be evaluated. Hofstede’s theory demonstrates that with one or more of the dimension all the countries are different in certain way or the other from each other. Trompenaars Model Trompenaars is a Dutch culturalist who has introduced international culture. In this model major dimension of person versus task and centralised versus decentralised have been determined. The various cultural dimension of this model are: Universalism vs. Particularism: The high universalism culture stress on formal rules and contracts to their individual

The impact of sales promotion by 'Nike Golf' in Thailand on the Essay

The impact of sales promotion by 'Nike Golf' in Thailand on the Strength of the Brand - Essay Example The importance of price in purchase decisions puts an emphasis on the relationship between the price of a purchased item and its quality (Mesak, 1979). Among the most attention-grabbing is the sales promotion of Nike golf Thailand used for their Driver and golf clubs. This was also the event Driver SQ series was introduced in 2006. The approach was to reduce the cost of the item in a short period of time. For demonstration, when the company promotes new product, which is done once every year, the price that kicks off at roughly four hundred dollars ($400) to six hundred dollars ($600), which is about 13, 000-20, 000 Thai Baht will hold a price of just about $250 (approximately 8, 000 Thai Baht) six months later. Then towards the end of the promotion, it will fasten to a price of $120 at the least, which is around 5, 000 Thai Baht. January 2002 came into the vastly competitive golf club industry of $1.5 billion. Nike is relying on its sound brand image as well as its deep pockets to vie in commerce where companies are inclusive of rigorous technologies (Gabrielle et al, 2002) when golf became popular and demands begin to escalate. Companies subsequently changed mode of production to mass production by means of shifting production processes to China with the intention of decreasing the costs (Anderson, 2008). Owing to the formidable marketing strategy as well as the production mode which is being used by Nike golf in promoting their merchandise, items of Nike golf are virtually offered in all golf shops throughout the world. They are able to distribute merchandises through dealers on every country and that particular dealer ought to employ their own strategy or technique in advertising their products. Hence, the Thailand Nike golf sales promotion which is being applied for their SQ driver series is distinctive from other sales promotion used by dealers from other countries

International Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Business - Research Paper Example The first branch was opened at Miami. Burger King adopted a tradition of quick service which attracted many Burger King made a business strategy with clear goals and objectives that saw it expand rapidly and made more profits than initially following the reduction in the overall sales and profits of the business. They wanted to have a new look, and virtually changed how everything was being run. The plan included strategic analysis of the business environment, identification of the business threats and the opportunities available in the market, extensive advertisements, quality control checkup and good customer relations including introduction of arrange of new food products in the market with even better tastes (Penrose, 1995). Burger King has a number of fast food products that in cooperated different prices. This made more sales to be realized as the customers could find what they were willing to pay for. In addition to this, Burger King prepares its hamburgers with a different me thod from other competitors by introducing the method of flame broiling a part from the usual frying method. This availability of different ways of food preparation captures customers of both methods (Kor, 2003). This popularized Burger King among the lovers of hamburgers leading to a popular theme of you can get it the way you want it. Today, Burger King is one of the leading food restaurants in the whole world. It boasts of around 12,000 outlets in fifty states in the United States of America. A number of these restaurants are located in the USA and is reported to account for nearly two thirds of the restaurants. Its presence is also felt in over 74 countries in the world, bringing to a total of approximately 400,000 employees all over the world. In addition to this, Burger King has a strategy to expand its total operating branches all over the world by between 3-4 percent every year. More profit from the Burger King businesses’ are realized from Canada and US, indicating w here sales are done as compared to the other outlets. For instance, the total value of units sold in the year 2009 from Canada and US was USD 2.54 billion. This trend of Burger King concentrating most of the restaurant branches in the US should change in order to avoid unpredicted threats. For example, if the US laws on taxation change so that business entities are over tax or the purchasing power parity of the US may become low leading to low customer demand which may see prices of food products falling below the equilibrium. Currently there are property rights in the USA but the future is uncertain for any country in the world. Change in politics may also play another factor that may lead to losses when a business concentrates its branches in one country. In addition a strong competitor may emerge in the US backed by powerful sources that can see Burger King run out of their money in the US. Therefore it can be recommended for Burger Kings to look beyond the US market by opening m ore branches in other countries like China, India, Japan other fast coming economies that has seen their economy grow faster than for the US. Burger King continues being successful perhaps in relation to their long time existence in the market characterized by a number of experiences gained in the last fifty years being brought over board. Burger King is a well known brand by millions of consumers to be an entity that always provide exceptional services to its customers besides quality

Rhetorical Analysis of Mirror, Mirror On the Web by Lakshmi Chaudhry Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of Mirror, Mirror On the Web by Lakshmi Chaudhry - Essay Example The writer is successful in using the tools of effective communication to advise internet users concerning the intention of using the internet and its effective utilization to avoid deception from selfish users. Rhetoric in Lakshmi Chaudhry’s Mirror, Mirror On the Web is evidenced by the way he attempts to inform, persuade and motivate his readers. Chaundry’s rhetorical devices are critical in his essay as they provide heuristics that enable him to discover, understand and develop excellent arguments concerning the use of the web. The three persuasive audience appeals prevalent in the essay include logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos constitute persuading the audience by use of reasoning that backs up the claims. Pathos provides means of persuading the audience by appealing to their emotions as a way of enhancing the receptivity of the argument. Ethos is critical in writing since they trace the immoral actions and appraise the moral acts to promote ethics in society (Longaker and Walker 23). Lakshmi Chaudhry’s article portrays clear evidence of the three persuasive evidence appeals. The writer argues that with the corollary of individualism has become narcissism, an inflated evaluation of self-worth devoid of any real sense of "self" or "worth." (Chaudhry 2) The current generation is characterized by widespread selfhood in favour of success. People lose the morality of being concerned about others and adopt character traits of callousness where personal happiness becomes the sole goal of hard work. This is actually what drives the generation ‘Me’ to fame since they want to be the centre of attention. People have embraced the internet as a panacea for various political ill motives (Chaudhry 3).

Medicalization as social control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medicalization as social control - Essay Example The main question being pondered is to what extent this influence goes? Three variations of the process of social control being affected by the medical field have been offered; the changing face of medicalization, the relatively new phenomenon of biomedicalization and the contradictory view of demedicalization. It appears that these processes vary across cultures (Conrad, 1992) and some examples have been documented though most research to date has focused on the Western world. This essay will discuss medicalization, biomedicalization and demedicalization and their relationship to social control in Western societies along with a brief overview of that changes that have occurred over the years. Finally, an attempt will be made to justify which of the processes is most relevant today. Medicalization is seen to be a sociocultural process that consists of finding a way to use medical language to describe an issue (Conrad, 2005). A very clear-cut way to define medicalization has been that it is a ‘process whereby more and more of everyday life has come under medical dominion, influence and supervision’ (Zola, 1983). A common-day example of this is while in the past a patient was only required to disclose to their doctor the symptoms of the ailment, nowadays people also tend to articulate information about their lifestyle and habits and even worries (reference). For the doctor to improve the patient’s condition, it is often lifestyle changes that are recommended (reference). For conditions such as heart problems, numerous doctors recommend dietary changes even before there is any sign of heart trouble. The doctor is essentially trying to prevent a disease or ailment before it starts and in the process is inadvertently extending the web of medicali zation and hence social control. Another fine example of this is in the case of testing for human immunodeficiency virus

Nutrition - Obesity Essay Example for Free

Nutrition Obesity Essay Objective: To assess the association between the consumption of fast food (FF) and body mass index (BMI) of teenagers in a large UK birth cohort. Methods: A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was chosen to allow direct statistical testing of a theoretical model. SEM is a combination of confirmatory factor and path analysis, which allows for the inclusion of latent (unmeasured) variables. This approach was used to build two models: the effect of FF outlet visits and food choices and the effect of FF exposure on consumption and BMI. Results: A total of 3620 participants had data for height and weight from the age 13 clinic and the frequency of FF outlet visits, and so were included in these analyses. This SEM model of food choices showed that increased frequency of eating at FF outlets is positively associated with higher consumption of unhealthy foods (b ? 0. 29, Po0. 001) and negatively associated with the consumption of healthy foods (b ? A1. 02, Po0. 001). The SEM model of FF exposure and BMI showed that higher exposure to FF increases the frequency of visits to FF outlets (b ? 0. 61, Po0.001), which is associated with higher body mass index standard deviation score (BMISDS; b ? 0. 08, Po0. 001). Deprivation was the largest contributing variable to the exposure (b ? 9. 2, Po0. 001). Conclusions: The teenagers who ate at FF restaurants consumed more unhealthy foods and were more likely to have higher BMISDS than those teenagers who did not eat frequently at FF restaurants. Teenagers who were exposed to more takeaway foods at home ate more frequently at FF restaurants and eating at FF restaurants was also associated with lower intakes of vegetables and raw fruit in this cohort. International Journal of Obesity (2011) 35, 1325–1330; doi:10. 1038/ijo. 2011. 120; published online 28 June 2011 Keywords: fast food; overweight; ALSPAC Introduction Childhood obesity prevalence have risen dramatically in the last 30 years in the Western world with the most recent figures for England and Wales show that 17% of boys and 16% of girls are obese. 1 An increase in the availability of calorie dense foods is implicated as one of the factors in the aetiology of the obesity epidemic. Fast food (FF) is one section of the food market that has grown steadily over the last few decades and it was worth d8. 9 billion in the United Kingdom in 2005. 2 FF is typically quick, convenient, cheap and Correspondence: Dr LK Fraser, School of Geography, University of Leeds, University road, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. E-mail: l. k. [emailprotected] ac. uk Received 6 February 2011; revised 21 April 2011; accepted 12 May 2011; published online 28 June 2011 uniform in its production,3 but FF is often high in saturated fats, energy dense and has low micronutrient content. 4–9 Studies from the United States of America have shown that children who consume FF (when compared with children who do not eat FF) have higher energy intake and higher fat intakes9,10 as well as lower vegetable and milk intake. 10,11 Therefore, the consumption of such foods could possibly result in a positive energy balance; and hence, weight gain. There is some evidence from longitudinal studies in the United States of America that consuming FF as a teenager can result in weight gain in both early12 and middle adulthood. 13 FF is often marketed to children and adolescents through television, internet and movie advertising,14–17 with brand recognition being present from an early age. 18 The addition of toys as gifts with FF meals also attracts children. There is growing body of literature that has assessed the location of FF outlets and has found that areas of higher deprivation Fast food and body mass index LK Fraser et al 1326 have more FF outlets19–21 and that FF outlets are often located close to schools. 22–24 The majority of research to date has been undertaken in the United States of America, but a study that analysed the fat content of a FF meal in McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in 35 countries showed that the amount of fat varied considerably between countries, within the same FF outlet. 25 This means that results from studies in the United States of America may not be generalisable to other countries. This study aims to assess the cross-sectional association between the consumption of FF and the body mass index (BMI) of teenagers in a large UK birth cohort. Methods The data for this study were obtained from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC),26 which is a birth cohort study where pregnant mothers who lived in the old Avon County in the United Kingdom (the Bristol region) were recruited in the early 1990s. A total of 14 541 mothers completed recruitment. Because of retrospective recruitment the total sample size was 15 224 fetuses and 14 610 live births. This paper presents data on the teenagers who attended the year 13 clinic and completed the year 13 questionnaire. Variables The food frequency data were collected from the questionnaires completed by mother (or carer) and separate questionnaires completed by the teenagers themselves at age 13 years. The data used from the carer questionnaire (collected at the same time point) referred to the questions ‘How often does s/he eat in a FF restaurant? The responses to this question were collected as never/rarely, once a month, once every 2 weeks, once or twice per week, 3–4 times a week, 5 or more times a week. The carers were also asked ‘In total, how many portions of vegetables does s/he eat in a week (do not include potatoes)’, ‘In total, how many portions of raw fruit does s/he eat in a week? ’ These were free numerical responses, which were retained as a continuous variable for analyses. In the food frequency part of the teenager completed questionnaire the teenagers were asked ‘If you ever buy food yourself from outside school, or from school vending machines, how often do you buy and eat each of the following things (include after school and weekends): chips, burger, pizza, sandwich, pies or pasties, chocolate, crisps, fruit and other food. ’ The height and weight data were collected at clinic visits at B13 years. The exact age, sex, height and weight were used to calculate a BMI standard deviation score (BMISDS) for each participant (1990 UK reference dataset). 27 The teenagers International Journal of Obesity were classified as obese if their BMISDS was greater than the 95th percentile (BMISDS41. 64). The physical activity data were collected via accelerometry at the age 13 clinic visit. 28 The participants wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days and the measure used from this is mean counts per minute, which is a continuous variable. A deprivation score was assigned to each participant by matching the coordinates of their residential address (when carer questionnaire was completed) to the appropriate lower super output area. Each lower super output area has an index of multiple deprivation score (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 (IMD))29 assigned from the local census data. This is a continuous variable in which a higher number indicates an area of higher deprivation. Ethnicity was assigned as per the child’s ethnicity into a binary variable of ‘white British’ and ‘other’ ethnicity. Statistical modelling Descriptive statistics were performed in STATA version 10 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA). A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was chosen to allow direct statistical testing of a theoretical model. SEM has many benefits over traditional regression techniques, which include the ability to model equations simultaneously and the incorporation of latent variables. 30 SEM is a combination of confirmatory factor and path analysis, which allows for the inclusion of latent (unmeasured) variables. 31 This approach was used to build two models: the effect of FF outlet visits and food choices and the effect of FF exposure on consumption and BMI. The SEM analyses were undertaken in AMOS version 17. 0 (IBM SPSS, USA). The hypothesised model for food choices is shown in the results section (Figure 2). The observed variables are displayed as boxes and latent variables as circles. Each observed variable has an associated random error term and each latent variable has an associated disturbance term, which represents the variance in the latent variable that has not been explained by the observed variables associated with that latent variable. Regression paths are shown by singleheaded arrows and covariances by double-headed curved arrows. The model fit was assessed by two indices; the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The CFI is a comparison of the hypothesised model compared with an independence model where all parameters are assumed to be independent. The RMSEA gives an indication of ‘how well would the model, with unknown but optimally chosen values, fit the population covariance matrix if it were available’. 32 A combination of CFI40. 95 and a RMSEA of o0. 50 is a sign of good model fit. The w2-test of overall fit is very sensitive to large sample size so has not been used in these models. 30 The two models were constructed a priori using previous research. The nutritional content of chips, burgers, pizza and Fast food and body mass index LK Fraser et al 1327 pies are known to be high in saturated fat and energy and therefore are ‘unhealthy’,4–9,33 whereas fruit and vegetables are known to contain fibre and vitamins and so are classified as ‘healthy’. Exposure to FF outlets is known to be higher in areas of higher deprivation. 19–21 In the food choices model, unhealthy consumption (latent variable) was modelled from the frequency of consumption of chips, burger, pizza and pies (reported by the teenagers themselves), and the healthy consumption was modelled from the number of pieces of vegetables and raw fruit consumed by the teenager (maternal report). The number of times that the teenager visited a FF outlet (maternal report) was regressed on the unhealthy and healthy consumption variables. The model for the effect of FF exposure on consumption and BMISDS is shown in Figure 3. Here exposure is a latent variable modelled from maternal and paternal takeaway frequency and deprivation score. The exposure is regressed on the number of visits to FF outlet. The BMISDS at age 13 years is the main outcome of this model. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ALSPAC Law and Ethics Committee and the local research ethics committees. Results A total of 3620 participants have data for height and weight from the age 13 clinic and the frequency of FF outlet visits, and were included in these analyses (SEM cannot use individuals with missing data). A total of 1711 (47. 3%) were boys and 456 (12.6%) obese. The descriptive statistics are shown in Table 1. Frequency of visiting FF outlets and food consumption frequencies are shown in Figure 1. The results of model 1 are shown in Figure 2 with regression weights shown in Table 2. This model showed that increased frequency of eating at FF outlets was positively associated with higher consumption of unhealthy foods (b ? 0. 29, Po0. 001) and negatively associated with the consumption of healthy foods (b ? A1. 02, Po0. 001). The CFI for model 1 was 0. 98 and the RMSEA was 0. 05 (90% confidence interval 0. 044, 0. 058). These represent good approximate model fit. Table 1. The results of model 2 are shown in Figure 3 with regression weight shown in Table 3. This model showed that increased exposure to FF increased the frequency of visits to FF outlets (b ? 0. 61, Po0. 001), which in turn was associated with higher BMISDS (b ? 0. 08, Po0. 001). Deprivation was the largest contributing variable to the exposure (b ? 9. 2, Po0. 001). The CFI for model 2 was 0. 98, and the RMSEA was 0. 021 (90% confidence interval 0. 009, 0. 033). These represent very good approximate model fit. Discussion This study shows that teenagers who are exposed to more unhealthy foods at home are more likely to eat at FF restaurants and have a higher BMISDS. The negative association of increased visits to FF outlets on consumption of healthy foods (fruit and vegetables) has also been demonstrated. The FF restaurant use in this analysis was reported by the mother or main carer of the teenager and showed that nearly 60% of all the teenagers ate at a FF restaurant at least once a month. This appears to be less frequently than in the United States of America, where studies showed that 60% of older children and adolescents ate FF more than once per week34 and that B30% of children ate at a FF restaurant on any typical day. 9. As one part of the SEM this study showed that eating at a FF outlet was associated with a higher BMISDS. There were no previous UK studies to compare these results with, but previous studies from the United States of America have not found consistent results. Boutelle et al. 11 found no association between frequency of FF consumption and adolescent BMI or weight status, and an Australian study Descriptive statistics Mean BMISDS Deprivation (IMD 2007)29 Physical activity (c. p. m. ) Raw fruit (portions per week) Vegetables (portions per week) s. d. Median IQR 0. 29 13. 7 541 9. 5 9. 5 1. 14 11. 4 190 7 7 0. 024 10. 6 511 8 8 A0. 47, 1. 06 5. 9, 17. 0 404, 653 5, 14 5, 12 Abbreviations: BMISDS, body mass index standard deviation score for age and sex; c. p. m. , cycles per minute; IMD 2007, Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007; IQR, interquartile range. Figure 1 Food frequency data. International Journal of Obesity Fast food and body mass index LK Fraser et al 1328 Figure 2 Results of SEM model of food choices. Table 2 Results of SEM model of food choices Regression weights a Unhealthy’fast food Healthy’fast food Chips’unhealthy Burger’unhealthy Fruit’healthy Vegetables’healthy Pizza’unhealthy Pies’unhealthy Estimate s. e. CR P 0. 285 A1. 023 1. 000 0. 732 1. 000 1. 157 0. 774 0. 530 0. 021 0. 124 13. 439 A8. 274 o0. 001 o0. 001 0. 016 45. 243 o0. 001 0. 148 0. 018 0. 016 7. 802 42. 483 32. 720 o0. 001 o0. 001 o0. 001 Abbreviations: CR, critical ratio; SEM, structural equation modeling. aAll consumption variables units: never/rarely, once a month, once every 2 weeks, once or twice per week, 3–4 times a week, 5 or more times a week. showed that FF eaten at home (but not away from home) was associated with higher BMI in adolescents (MacFarlane). Two longitudinal studies using data from the CARDIA study found that higher FF intake in adolescence was associated with higher BMI in young adulthood12 and those who ate FF more than twice a week had put on an extra 4. 5 kg of weight 15 years later. 13 The teenagers who ate more frequently at FF restaurants were more likely to eat less fruit and vegetables, as well as consume more unhealthy foods (chips, burger, pizza, pies) than those teenagers who ate at FF restaurants less frequently. This is an indication that the consumption of unhealthy foods may displace healthy food choices. This is similar to previous research in the United States of America, International Journal of Obesity which showed that children who ate FF consumed 45 g less vegetables per day than children who did not eat FF. 10 At age 13 years the food frequency data were a combination of maternal and self-report from the teenagers, but the total macro- and micronutrient values could not be assessed in this study as these data were not yet available at the time of writing. Deprivation was the largest contributor to the FF exposure variable. This could be explained by the fact that those of higher deprivation eat more FF because of the relative cheapness of FF. It has also been shown in many studies in the United Kingdom and the United States of America that areas of higher deprivation have more FF outlets than more affluent areas therefore, FF is more readily available. 35 An interesting economics paper from the United States of America showed that increasing the cost of FF by $1 could decrease BMI by 0. 78 units. 36 The increased consumption of unhealthy foods (chips, burger, pizzas and pies) by those teenagers who ate more frequently at FF outlets was not surprising, but the associated negative effect of the consumption of fruit and vegetables by these participants is important. These teenagers will not only be consuming more of the saturated fat and salt from the burgers, and so on, but at the same time they are not consuming important nutrients from fruit and vegetables. Although many FF outlets now offer more healthy alternatives such as fruit and vegetables, the consumers may still be choosing the unhealthy foods. Fast food and body mass index LK Fraser et al 1329 The FF question completed by the carer did not specify what constituted FF so some respondents may only count large franchises as FF whereas others may use a broader definition that includes independent takeaways. Although the frequency of eating at a FF restaurant was asked, the carers were not asked about the food eaten from these establishments and many FF restaurants now offer more ‘healthy’ alternatives. Although the majority of FF items do not meet the Food Standards Agency nutrient standards for total fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium there are wide variations in similar products from different FF outlets with sodium content varying by up to four times in fried chicken products. 37 Therefore, having data on which food items were consumed from which FF outlet would further enhance future studies. There was no information on why the teenagers ate at FF restaurants, and key questions for the future include; was there no alternative eating establishments in their neighbourhood? Did they prefer FF to other meals or was the cost of food important? Conclusions This study has shown that the teenagers who ate at FF restaurants consumed more unhealthy foods and were more likely to have higher BMISDS than those teenagers who did not eat frequently at FF restaurants. Teenagers who were exposed to more takeaway foods at home ate more frequently at FF restaurants. Eating at FF restaurants was also associated with lower intakes of vegetables and raw fruit in this cohort. Figure 3 The SEM model of FF exposure and BMI. Table 3 Results of SEM model of FF exposure and body mass index Regression weights Fast food ’exposure. Maternal fast food’exposure Deprivation’exposure Paternal fast food’exposure BMISDS’fast food BMISDS’c. p. m. a Estimate s. e. CR 0. 61 1. 000 9. 20 0. 66 0. 08 0. 00 0. 07 8. 654 1. 07 0. 08 0. 02 0. 00 8. 605 8. 680 3. 586 A3. 351 P o0. 001 o0. 001 o0. 001 o0. 001 o0. 001 Abbreviations: BMISDS, body mass index standard deviation score for age and sex; c. p. m. , cycles per minute; CR, critical ratio; FF, fast food; IMD 2007, Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007; SEM, structural equation modeling. a All consumption variables units: never/rarely, once a month, once every 2 weeks, once or twice per week, 3–4 times a week, 5 or more times a week. Strengths/limitations This is a large dataset with good-quality height and weight data taken at clinic visits by trained staff using validated equipment. There were food consumption data about the teenagers available from both the teenagers and their carers, but this is a cross-sectional study so causation cannot be implied from this data. As expected in a longitudinal study there is attrition and the subcohort used in this study may not be truly representative of the whole cohort. Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. Acknowledgements. We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting and the whole ALSPAC team, which include interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists and nurses. The UK Medical Research Council (grant ref: 74882), The Wellcome Trust (grant ref: 076467) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. LKF was funded by ESRC/MRC studentship. References 1 Craig RS. Health survey for England 2007, 2008. Available from http://www. natcen. ac. uk/study/health-survey-for-england-2007. 2 Keynote.UK fast food and home delivery outlets, 2006. International Journal of Obesity Fast food and body mass index LK Fraser et al 1330 3 DeMaria AN. Of fast food and franchises. J Am Coll Cardiol 2003; 41: 1227–1228. 4 Astrup A. Super-sized and diabetic by frequent fast-food consumption? Lancet 2005; 365: 4–5. 5 Brown K, McIlveen H, Strugnell C. Young consumers and the hospitality spectrum. Appetite 1998; 31: 403. 6 Harnack LJ, French SA, Oakes JM, Story MT, Jeffery RW, Rydell SA. Effects of calorie labeling and value size pricing on fast food meal choices: results from an experimental trial. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2008; 5: 63. 7 Lewis LB, Sloane DC, Nascimento LM, Diamant AL, Guinyard JJ, Yancey AK et al. African Americans’ access to healthy food options in South Los Angeles restaurants. Am J Public Health 2005; 95: 668–673. 8 Paeratakul S, Ferdinand DP, Champagne CM, Ryan DH, Bray GA. Fast-food consumption among US adults and children: dietary and nutrient intake profile. J Am Diet Assoc 2003; 103: 1332–1338. 9 Schmidt M, Affenito SG, Striegel-Moore R, Khoury PR, Barton B, Crawford P et al. Fast-food intake and diet quality in black and white girls the national heart, lung, and blood institute growth and health study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005; 159: 626–631. 10 Bowman SA, Gortmaker SL, Ebbeling CB, Pereira MA, Ludwig DS. Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey. Pediatrics 2004; 113: 112–118. 11 Boutelle KN, Fulkerson JA, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M, French SA. Fast food for family meals: relationships with parent and adolescent food intake, home food availability and weight status. Public Health Nutr 2007; 10: 16–23. 12 Duffey KJ, Gordon-Larsen P, Jacobs DR, Williams OD, Popkin BM. Differential associations of fast food and restaurant food consumption with 3-y change in body mass index: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 85: 201–208. 13 Pereira MA, Kartashov AI, Ebbeling CB, Van Horn L, Slattery M, Jacobs DR et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005; 365: 36–42. 14 Sutherland LA, MacKenzie T, Purvis LA, Dalton M. Prevalence of food and beverage brands in movies: 1996–2005. Pediatrics 2010; 125: 468–474. 15 Powell LM, Szczypka G, Chaloupka FJ. Trends in exposure to television food advertisements among children and adolescents in the United States. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2010; 164: 794–802. 16 Hillier A, Cole BL, Smith TE, Yancey AK, Williams JD, Grier SA et al. Clustering of unhealthy outdoor advertisements around child-serving institutions: a comparison of three cities. Health Place 2009; 15: 935–945. 17 Lingas EO, Dorfman L, Bukofzer E. Nutrition content of food and beverage products on Web sites popular with children. Am J Public Health 2009; 99(Suppl 3): S587–S592. 18 Robinson TN, Borzekowski DLG, Matheson DM, Kraemer HC. Effects of fast food branding on young children’s taste preferences. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2007; 161: 792–797. International Journal of Obesity. 19 Cummins SCJ, McKay L, MacIntyre S. McDonald’s restaurants and neighborhood deprivation in Scotland and England. Am J Prev Med 2005; 29: 308–310. 20 Fraser LK, Edwards KL. The association between the geography of fast food outlets and childhood obesity rates in Leeds, UK. Health Place 2010; 16: 1124–1128. 21 Macdonald L, Cummins S, Macintyre S. Neighbourhood fast food environment and area deprivation-substitution or concentration? Appetite 2007; 49: 251–254. 22 Neckerman KM, Bader MDM, Richards CA, Purciel M, Quinn JW, Thomas JS et al. Disparities in the food environments of New York City public schools. A J Prev Med 2010; 39: 195–202. 23 Davis B, Carpenter C. Proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools and adolescent obesity. Am J Public Health 2009; 99: 505–510. 24 Seliske LM, Pickett W, Boyce WF, Janssen I. Density and type of food retailers surrounding Canadian schools: variations across socioeconomic status. Health Place 2009; 15: 903–907. 25 Stender S, Dyerberg J, Astrup A. Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy. Int J Obes 2007; 31: 887–890. 26 Golding J, Pembrey M, Jones R, Team AS. ALSPAC-The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children – I. Study methodology. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2001; 15: 74–87. 27 Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA. Body-mass index reference curves for the UK, 1990. Arch DisChild 1995; 73: 25–29. 28 Riddoch CJ, Leary SD, Ness AR, Blair SN, Deere K, Mattocks C et al. Prospective associations between objective measures of physical activity and fat mass in 12–14 year old children: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Br Med J 2009; 339: b4544. 29 Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 (IMD 2007). 30 Kline R (ed) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. The Guildford Press: New York, 2005. 31 Tomarken AJ, Waller NG. Structural equation modeling: strengths, limitations, and misconceptions. Annu Rev Clinic. Psychol 2005; 1: 31–65. 32 Byrne BM (ed). Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS. Lawrence Erbaum Associates: London, 2001. 33 Astrup A, Dyerberg J, Selleck M, Stender S. Nutrition transition and its relationship to the development of obesity and related chronic diseases. Obes Rev 2008; 9: 48–52. 34 Taveras EM, Berkey CS, Rifas-Shiman SL, Ludwig DS, Rockett HRH, Field AE et al. Association of consumption of fried food away from home with body mass index and diet quality in older children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2005; 116: E518–E524. 35 Fraser LK, Edwards KL, Cade J, Clarke GP. The geography of fast food outlets: a review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2010; 7: 2290–2308. 36 Powell LM. Fast food costs and adolescent body mass index: evidence from panel data. J Health Econ 2009; 28: 963–970. 37 Dunford E, Webster J, Barzi F, Neal B. Nutrient content of products served by leading Australian fast food chains. Appetite 2010; 55: 484–489. Copyright of International Journal of Obesity is the property of Nature Publishing Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holders express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay

Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay Enterprises are increasingly deploying RESTful services for two reasons 1) to enable Web 2.0 integrations with data stores and backend systems 2) to allow RPC-style communication between client side web frameworks like GWT or YUI and backend systems. In addition, there are multiple frameworks to develop these services that are consumed internally and externally by different endpoints in different contexts. Hence, it is vital to provide simple and adaptable security that both integrates seamlessly with enterprise security and brings authentication, authorization and integrity to the services. This paper covers the pros and cons of various approaches of RESTful services security: 1) Transport level security (TLS/SSL) provides secure peer-to-peer authentication, but this technique is inadequate when requests for authentication are based on delegation (allowing sites to authenticate on behalf of the user). 2) The OAuth protocol enables consumers to access services through an API that doe s not require consumers to disclose their service provider credentials to access services. This is the most commonly followed approach used by Google AuthSub, AOL OpenAuth, and the Amazon AWS API. However, not all REST frameworks provide support to this protocol. 3) Token-based authentication developed for CA Technologies Unified Connector Framework (UCF) to expose services over REST or SOAP combines the advantages of these two without compromising standards and simplicity. Introduction Since RESTful web services are exposed using standard HTTP protocol and methods, they can easily be consumed in multiple ways, such as with direct access from browsers using URLs; through programmatic interface using HTTP client libraries; and from client side frameworks such as JavaScript,. If enterprise systems provide RESTful access to their data and functionality, the open nature of REST requires a strong security solution to prevent access by unintended users; to prevent sniffers on the network from reading messages; and to control the users who are allowed to interact with specific services and disallow certain actions for certain users. The question is what should be the strong security solution? The REST protocol itself does not specify any predefined security methods. Many people believe that HTTP security practices can be successfully applied for securing REST services. This can be true, depending on the scenarios where RESTful services are consumed. HTTP security may be ad equate if the RESTful services are intended for internal use only. One example is web applications using Ajax frameworks. Since they need RPC over HTTP or RESTful services for backend interactions, invocation of services is internal to the UI and transparent to clients who interact with the UI. In such a scenario, HTTP security may be adequate.. However, greater security is required when RESTful services are intended for external use, For example, CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform provides RESTful services that can be consumed by such mechanisms as mashups, ESBs, Ruby scripts, and many more, and requires a higher level of security. Although the security requirements greatly vary for these two scenarios, we need a simple and adaptable solution for both. This article describes the commonly used security methods for RESTful services and suggests a solution that mostly fulfills the security requirements for externally published services, including REST, SOAP over JMS, SOAP o ver HTTP, and other protocols. This approach was developed for and is used in the RESTful services of the Core API of CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform. Commonly available methods for securing RESTful services Container-Managed Authentication and Authorization: As RESTful web services are HTTP-centric, the most natural fit for authentication and authorization is container based authentication and authorization. The concept of realm places a central role in the Tomcat approach. A realm is a collection of resources including web pages and web services, with a designated authentication and authorization facility. The container approach to security also is declarative than programmatic that is details about the security realm are specified in a configuration file rather than in code. The container also provides option to enable wire level security. Refer [1] [2] for information about configuring realms for authentication and authorization and SSL/TLS for wire level security. The advantages of this method need not be specified explicitly here as they are proven and widely used. However, it has the following limitations when applied to RESTful services for enterprise use: With user credentials based authentication, the security solution is confined to identity silos. It does not support the Actas scenario. An Actas scenario involves multi-tiered systems to authenticate and pass information about identities between the tiers without having to pass this information at the application/business logic layer. Mutual Authentication: HTTPS with client certificate enabled performs two-way authentication. In addition to the client receiving a signed digital certificate representing the server, the server can receive a certificate that represents and identifies the client. When a client initially connects to a server, it exchanges its certificate and the server matches it against its internal store. Once this link is established, there is no further need for user authentication. Mutual authentication is perhaps the most secure way to perform authentication on the Web. This approach has the same drawbacks mentioned in the previous section. Another disadvantage of this approach is the managing of the certificates. The server must create a unique certificate for each client that wants to connect to the service. From the browser/human perspective, this can be burdensome, as the user has to do some extra configuration to interact with the server. Shared Key based authentication: This is the common method used by Amazon web services and Microsoft Azure services. In this method initially the client registers with the service provider. As part of registration, the service provider sends the client an Access Key ID and a Secret Access Key. When a client wants to invoke services, it prepares the request, performs a hash on the request using its Secret Access Key, attaches the signature (hash) to the request, and forwards it to the service provider. The service provider verifies the signature is a valid hash of the request and, if authenticated, processes the request ([3] [4]). This achieves requester authentication as well as integrity without SSL The problem with this authentication schemes is that the contents and ordering of the string to sign are different from one service provider to another service provider. For instance, though Amazons and Azures mechanisms are very similar, their differences make them incompatible. Perhaps due to this issue, the OAuth approach covered in the next section is gaining popularity as a standard security mechanism for RESTful services. OAuth Oauth is an open protocol allowing secure API authentication and authorization in a simple and standard method for web applications. OAuth allows users of a service to provide limited access to a third party account of theirs to the service without sharing credentials. OAuth is often described as a valet key that users can give to a service to access their accounts on other services. For example, a user of Flickr (the service provider) would provide Snapfish (the consumer) with read only access to their Flickr account. This lets Snapfish access photos in the users Flickr account so they can order prints. Refer [5] for more details about OAuth specification. OAuth has some distinct advantages: It doesnt require certificates By choosing the right token format, it can support claims based Token. A claim is a statement about a subject; for example, a name, key, group, permission, or capability made by one subject about itself or another subject. Claims are given one or more values and then packaged in security tokens that are distributed by the issuer. It supports the SAML token. SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is a standard for exchanging authorization and authentication data between between an identity provider and a service provider regardless of their platforms or security systems. OAuth with SAML enables federated authentication and authorization. The only drawback is that not all RESTful services frameworks provide native support for dealing with OAuth based authentication. For example, Apache CXF does not support OAuth. Token based Authentication CA Technologies Catalyst4 integration platform includes the Unified Connector Framework (UCF) that provides a Java-based solution for connectivity and integration among CA and third-party products UCF has distinct security requirements: It should be able to support Actas scenarios; the platform should be able to invoke services from 3rd party providers on the behalf of clients Catalyst exposes services in several different protocols, including RESTful, SOAP over HTTP, SOAP over JMS, etc. Its security solution should work consistently in all the forms of the services. Its security solution should be extensible, simple and adaptable in different scenarios. To accommodate these requirements, UCF introduced the token based security solution using public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate for authentication and authorization of its services. This solution has the following components:. Domain Trust Certificate (DTC) is an X.509 v3 certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) or self signed owned by the DomainManager that controls the UCF domain. Trusted Certificate (TC) is a X.509 v3 certificate signed by DTC. A Node is either a service provider or service consumer who owns that TC signed by the DTC. Security Service is available per container2 which hosts several connectors1. This service issues a Token, validates the Token and sets claims retrieved from Token to the context so that they can be used by connectors or other entities in the container for Authorization or Actas scenarios. CertAuthService is an independent entity provides services like signing Certificate Signing Request CSR 5 and providing the DTC public key Token consists of set of claims signed by security service. Interactions on the Client side: The client generates a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) using keytool 6 and obtains a X.509 certificate signed by DTC from the CertAuthService. The signed CSR is called a Trusted Certificate (TC) in UCF domain. The client makes an addTrust() request to the Security Service at the service provider by passing its public key certificate. This step enables the Security Service to validate the certificate and add provided certificate to its trust store. Steps 1 2 are performed only once per client. The client makes a getToken() call with tokenRequest to the Security Service. The tokenRequest consists of claims and a signature computed using the clients private key. If client is using UCF API to make remote calls, then steps 1 2 are transparent to the client at the time of proxy creation to the service endpoint. The client prepares the request and adds the Token to the request header. If client is using the UCF API to make remote calls, then adding the Token to the request header is transparent to the client. The client makes a remote call Interactions on the Service side: The Security Service is hosted from a Catalyst container so that it is available to both external users and inside the container for security token validations. For addTrust() calls, the Security service validates the provided certificates signature to find whether it is signed by DTC or not. If it is DTC signed then the Service adds the certificate to its trust store. For getToken() calls, the Security service checks the signature against the available keys in its trust store. If it succeeds then a token is prepared and returned to the client. The token consists of claims, lifetime and the signature of the Security service. For all incoming calls to the services available in the Catalyst container, calls are intercepted at CXF handlers and the token is verified with Security service. If it is from a valid client then claims are extracted out of the token and sets to thread local context so that it may be used by connector implementation for further authorization or authentication with other service providers. Finally, the call is forwarded to the service. If the Security service is unable to validate the token, an unauthorized exception is returned to the client. Authorization is handled by any provider on service using claims. As described above, this solution supports authentication based on X.509 certificate and authorization is done by any provider using claims. The same set of claims is used for Actas scenario. For instance, services running in Catalyst container can use claims to talk to another services or endpoint on the behalf client. Conclusion The solution described in Section 3 is a better fit for platforms/products like Catalyst that need to make services available in more than one form such as REST, SOAP over HTTP and SOAP over JMS. It is a security solution that works consistently in all forms of services. Also, the solution is extensible to other modes of authentication like user credentials other than certificate based. This solution needs additional work to replace custom Token format to SAML based so that tokens can be consumed in third party software which understands SAML. This. Acknowledgments The solution described in Section 3 was contributed by entire UCF team which includes Sijelmassi, Rachid, me, GVN, Anila Kumar and Koganti, Naga. . Actas