WCF based communication bridge between privacy preserving online social network and a client side standalone application

Abstract

Java Applets have been around for almost twenty years now. They have been employed in displaying attractive features on the Internet. Java version 7 update 51 has enhanced the security clearance required to run any applet on client-side. This update was relayed to the users in light of many security loopholes being exploited by hackers around the globe.

Do Hoang Giang and Nguyen Vu Tuan’s previous project outlined an implementation of a privacy preserving online social network that employed an embedded Java applet to communicate with a client-side standalone application. Given the nature of applet being used, it was decided to find an alternative. This project has created just the one.

The author has utilized a Windows level background process called Windows Communication Foundation service embedded in a Windows service for this purpose. There is no interaction between the users of the social network and the Windows service. This implementation is backwards compatible asserted by the fact that the functionalities of the social network are kept intact. Since the service is loaded only once onto the system, the process of communication is faster than the Java applet, which had to be loaded at every page.