Java-based and secure learning agents for information retrieval in distributed systems

Intelligent agents represent a powerful tool to implement distributed functions in a network environment. This paper describes the current status of a research project whose target consists in using this new technology for automatic information retrieval, network management and security purposes within a distributed system. Specifically, we describe the software agents dedicated to information retrieval and to security aspects, focusing on architectural aspects and implementation issues. The system has been implemented using the Java language.