Policy Server Guides › Policy Server Administration Guide › Configuring and Managing Encryption Keys › Static Keys

Static Keys

A static key is a string used to encrypt data which remains constant. In a SiteMinder deployment that uses the Agent Key rollover feature, a static key provides a method for maintaining user information across an extended period of time.

The following SiteMinder features and situations make use of the static key:

• Saving User Credentials for HTML Forms Authentication

  If an HTML Forms authentication scheme has been configured to allow users to save credentials, the Policy Server uses the static key to encrypt the user's credentials.

• User Tracking

  If user tracking is turned on, the Policy Server uses the static key to encrypt user identity information.

• Single Sign-on Across Multiple Key Stores

  In a SiteMinder deployment that includes multiple key stores, the static key may be used for single sign-on. In this situation, SiteMinder Agents use the static key for all cookie encryption.

  Note: If you change the static key, any cookies created with the former static key are invalid. Users may be forced to re-authenticate, and user tracking information becomes invalid. In addition, if the static key is used for single sign-on, users are challenged for credentials when they attempt to access resources in another cookie domain.