Ok, if you were objecting to what I wasn’t saying then I guess I agree with 
your objection.

 

Consistent NetSec rules across all WGs is the goal.  Fragmentation would be a 
disaster.

 

-Tim

 

From: Ryan Sleevi [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 11:45 AM
To: Tim Hollebeek <[email protected]>
Cc: Peter Bowen <[email protected]>; CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List 
<[email protected]>; Jos Purvis (jopurvis) <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] For Discussion: S/MIME Working Group Charter

 

I don't think the proposed charter does that then :) In copying from the other 
proposals, it looks to explicitly propose the creation of a new, separate, and 
wholly independent document - hence the objection, and which now that we 
understand the basis of that objection, seems like we agree on why it'd be 
objectionable :)

 

On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 11:26 AM, Tim Hollebeek <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

That is accurate.

 

-Tim

 

From: Peter Bowen [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] 
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 11:26 AM
To: Tim Hollebeek <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List 
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc: Jos Purvis (jopurvis) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >; 
Ryan Sleevi <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >


Subject: Re: [cabfpub] For Discussion: S/MIME Working Group Charter

 

Tim,

 

It seems your intent was to call out in the charter that any Guideline needs to 
include not only validation requirements but CA infrastructure security 
requirements as well.  Is that accurate?

 

Thanks,

Peter

 

On May 18, 2018, at 8:23 AM, Tim Hollebeek via Public <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

 

Adopting the existing NSG by reference is exactly what I think the S/MIME group 
should do.

 

We should keep them the same and in sync across all WGs whenever possible.

 

-Tim

 

To stave that off, I’d like to accelerate moving the NSG work to a top-level 
Forum group and get it out of the Server Certificate group. The only 
complication I see is that by moving it to a top-level group, we’d have to 
resolve whether it becomes across-the-board mandatory, or something that each 
WG can adopt as a requirement or not as they see fit. It sounds like this is 
highlighting the need to accomplish that sooner rather than later; for the time 
being, would it work for the nascent S/MIME WG to simply adopt the existing NSG 
by reference?

 

-- Jos

 

-- 
Jos Purvis ( <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected])
.:|:.:|:. cisco systems  | Cryptographic Services
PGP: 0xFD802FEE07D19105  | +1 919.991.9114 (desk)

 

 

From: Public < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]> on behalf of Tim Hollebeek via Public < 
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]>
Reply-To: Tim Hollebeek < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>, CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List < 
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]>
Date: Friday, 18 May, 2018 at 10:12 
To: Ryan Sleevi < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]>
Cc: CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] For Discussion: S/MIME Working Group Charter

 

I’m interested in hearing feedback from the entire forum about what we can pass.

 

I’m less interested in rehashing old debates and holding this charter hostage 
to them.

 

The idea that NetSec is a set of cross-cutting requirements that applies to all 
working groups has been mentioned many times and has never been controversial, 
so I’m not sure how it morphed into a fundamental objection.

 

-Tim

 

From: Ryan Sleevi [ <mailto:[email protected]> mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 10:06 AM
To: Tim Hollebeek < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>
Cc: CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>; Dimitris Zacharopoulos < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] For Discussion: S/MIME Working Group Charter

 

Tim,

 

I'm not clear - are you saying that you have no intention of removing the 
proposal for a separate Network Security document from the S/MIME charter? This 
is a real and fundamental objection, and I hope I've articulated why it's 
problematic in a charter, and further, problematic in scope of activities. I'm 
hoping you can clearly articulate the value, concretely demonstrating why this 
is an immediate and cross-cutting problem to be solved (and at the potential of 
conflict with other bits). Your proposal - for example, to split NetSec into a 
separate CWG - demonstrates how and why it's explicitly unnecessary to include 
in a draft charter.

 

If you're not open to suggestions, then it seems the only alternative is to 
provide a counter-charter proposal, and have a run-off, and that seems like a 
very silly thing to do, when there's a real opportunity to collaborate here, 
and that you seem to be outright rejecting without justification.

 

With respect to the notion of EV for S/MIME, I again reiterate that it's wholly 
unnecessary to incorporate within the charter. Beyond being a clearly marketing 
concept - in which it tries to distinguish itself from the existing space - 
it's something that as a scope of work that, if there is demonstrable value in 
such levels of validation, it can be incorporated within a BRs. If you can't 
get a BRs you don't believe is secure for purpose, then you're explicitly 
stating in the goal of WG is to fail in the mission. Conversely, if you get a 
BRs that are, then you don't necessarily need an "extended" version.

 

My take away from these responses is that you're not actually interested in 
feedback, as I'm trying to give clear and actionable explanations and rationale 
for these positions. I can understand if you disagree, but is there an 
opportunity here to collaborate on a sensible baseline, and to address this 
feedback, or are you setting out a charter that seeks to outright reject 
concerns that could help us find productive solutions, quicker?

 

On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 9:25 AM, Tim Hollebeek < 
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote:

I agree mixing ClientAuth and S/MIME is a bad idea.

 

NetSec is needed by all WGs.  It’s not getting removed.  Hopefully all WGs will 
try to to keep their versions and effective dates in sync, to prevent audit 
pains.  As we’ve discussed several times, the NetSec legacy WG is probably 
going to convert itself into a top level WG.  It will the approve documents 
that can be incorporated by other WGs by reference.  Or just used in 
conjunction with other WG products.

 

Identity and validation is another important cross-cutting concern.  It isn’t a 
“pet marketing product”.

 

-Tim

 

From: Public [mailto: <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ryan Sleevi via Public
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 9:18 AM
To: Dimitris Zacharopoulos < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]>; 
CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List < <mailto:[email protected]> 
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] For Discussion: S/MIME Working Group Charter

 

 

 

On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 12:57 AM, Dimitris Zacharopoulos via Public < 
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote:

 

On 18/5/2018 2:51 πμ, Ryan Sleevi via Public wrote:

I don't think it's a cross-EKU situation, though, but I'm glad we're in 
agreement. 

 

An email server certificate is an id-kp-serverAuth EKU. That's already covered 
by another WG


I sincerely hope that id-kp-clientAuth EKU will also be covered by this WG 
since there will be common validation requirements for Subject information, as 
with S/MIME. It seems too much overhead to spawn an entirely different WG to 
deal just with clientAuth.

If people agree, how about using the name "Client and S/MIME Certificate WG" 
which seems aligned with the "Server Certificate WG"?

 

As I've mentioned several times, it would be good to actually focus on a 
constrained, defined problem, before you proverbially try to boil the ocean.

 

It is not obvious that there will be common validation requirements, because 
the id-kp-clientAuth situation has a vast dimension of possible uses and 
spectrum. It's not actually reflective of the deployed reality that the 
validation requirements are the same. It also is based on an entirely separate 
notion of identity.

 

So no, I don't agree, because they really are substantially different in 
deployed reality - and an S/MIME WG is, in itself, a sizable undertaking just 
to get S/MIME BRs, due to the broad spectrum of client capabilities and CA 
past-practices - and the lifetime of extant certificates that presents unique 
challenges to defining a sensible and realistic profile.

 

A good charter - one that leads to productive engagement from a broad set of 
participants while actually delivering meaningful improvements - is one that 
keeps itself narrowly focused on the task at hand, produces results, and then 
looks to recharter based on the things you knew were out there, but agreed not 
to discuss until you actually completed the work. That allows you to keep 
momentum, focus, and participation. Just look at the challenges each of our 
(legacy) WG has faced with a broad remit, in that the set of topics has made it 
difficult both to engage participation of the broader Forum and to actually 
make forward progress, because it's constantly having to deal with 'all these 
things' or trying to do 'all these things'.

 

When we see narrowly focused ballots and efforts that try to solve a specific 
set of problems, then we make progress. The validation WG's effort at 3.2.2.4 
is a prime example of that - a prolonged effort that directly benefited from 
being focused on that problem, and ruling some things (like 3.2.2.5) out of 
scope of the discussion in order to make progress on the narrow set.

 

The same too is in the charter. Let's not try to encompass pet marketing 
projects (EV for S/MIME), "things we might need but we don't know why" (network 
security), or "things that are kinda related, but only in some domains" 
(id-kp-clientAuth). Let's focus on the problem at hand - S/MIME authentication 
- keeping the WG scoped narrowly and on task, and deliver something that can 
help users have faith in the Web PKI to deliver tangible benefits in that 
space, rather than the reality we have today.

 

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