XML increasingly important to IT security

There's a growing trend among security vendors to build XML compatibility into network appliances. Not only does that enable disparate products to communicate, but it also creates new options such as having detection/prevention appliances serve as intelligent routers. XML isn't known for speed but in security, it's the quality of results and ease of maintenance that matter most. XML itself is secure when used with HTTP/S channels, and hardware can store the policies.

For more on security:
- read this Network World op-ed