Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2009-01-12 Thread wolfgang . pietrus
On Dec 31 2008, 12:27 am, Frank Hecker hec...@mozillafoundation.org wrote: Eddy Nigg wrote: I edited the Problematic Practices page and added https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA:Problematic_Practices#Delegation_of_Domai... It might need some improvement. Frank, can you review? This will affect

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2009-01-12 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 01/12/2009 11:27 AM, wolfgang.piet...@t-systems.com: Frank, The Comodo topic has once again sparked a fierce discussion about the validity of certificates, how appropriate levels of security and trust should look like and what to do to establish them. Since we expect this discussion to

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2009-01-12 Thread wolfgang . pietrus
On Jan 12, 10:45 am, Eddy Nigg eddy_n...@startcom.org wrote: On 01/12/2009 11:27 AM, wolfgang.piet...@t-systems.com: Frank, The Comodo topic has once again sparked a fierce discussion about the validity of certificates, how appropriate levels of security and trust should look like and

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2009-01-03 Thread Ben Bucksch
On 31.12.2008 19:57, Frank Hecker wrote: Kyle Hamilton wrote: Ummm... has an enterprise PKI ever been included in Mozilla? Sorry, I wasn't being clear here. I'm not referring to enterprises that have their own root CAs. I was referring to schemes where enterprises work through CAs like

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2009-01-02 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 01/02/2009 06:55 PM, ro...@comodo.com: That thread has a lot going on and I don't propose to try to address it all. However, I will address your reading of our CPS in an attempt to bring some degree of clarity. If I correctly understood your referenced post, you asserted that: 1)

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-31 Thread Frank Hecker
Kyle Hamilton wrote: Ummm... has an enterprise PKI ever been included in Mozilla? Sorry, I wasn't being clear here. I'm not referring to enterprises that have their own root CAs. I was referring to schemes where enterprises work through CAs like VeriSign to issue certificates to their own

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-31 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/31/2008 08:57 PM, Frank Hecker: employees, servers, etc. IIRC in a number of these schemes the CA is responsible for actually issuing the certificates but the validation is done by the enterprise. (For example, the CA might provide a web-based interface by which authorized representatives

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-31 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/31/2008 12:30 PM, Rob Stradling: Yes, Reseller and RA are 2 distinct roles. However, in some cases, a single entity may choose (and be approved) to perform both of these roles. I fully agree that the Reseller role should not perform any validation procedures at all. Robin, could you

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Kai Engert
Ian G wrote: Which language suggests they have to do verification *themselves* ? The fact that the policy talks about a CA, and I didn't see talk about external entities. BTW, it would be quite problematic to insist that the CAs do this job themselves. CAs are not generally experts on

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/30/2008 03:24 PM, Kai Engert: As I see verification as the core intention of the CA principle, I would have assumed above requirement is obvious to everyone, at least to CAs themselves. One of Comodo's CPS (the one responsible for PositiveSSL) claims: To validate PositiveSSL and

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Kai Engert
Eddy Nigg wrote: On 12/28/2008 01:13 PM, Kai Engert: The current Mozilla CA Certificate Policy says: 6. We require that all CAs whose certificates are distributed with our software products: ... provide attestation of their conformance to the stated verification requirements ... Kai, just

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/30/2008 08:39 PM, Kai Engert: Eddy Nigg wrote: On 12/28/2008 01:13 PM, Kai Engert: The current Mozilla CA Certificate Policy says: 6. We require that all CAs whose certificates are distributed with our software products: ... provide attestation of their conformance to the stated

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Ian G
On 30/12/08 20:41, Eddy Nigg wrote: I edited the Problematic Practices page and added https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA:Problematic_Practices#Delegation_of_Domain_.2F_Email_validation_by_third_parties My comment: it is written like a requirement, using MUST. This is confusing, and it bypasses

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/30/2008 10:46 PM, Ian G: On 30/12/08 20:41, Eddy Nigg wrote: I edited the Problematic Practices page and added https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA:Problematic_Practices#Delegation_of_Domain_.2F_Email_validation_by_third_parties My comment: it is written like a requirement, using MUST. This

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Frank Hecker
Eddy Nigg wrote: I edited the Problematic Practices page and added https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA:Problematic_Practices#Delegation_of_Domain_.2F_Email_validation_by_third_parties It might need some improvement. Frank, can you review? This will affect obviously only future inclusion requests and

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-30 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/31/2008 01:27 AM, Frank Hecker: One reason I say this is good CA practice as opposed to a mandatory requirement, is because of cases like enterprise PKIs where the enterprises might act as RAs and do verification based on their own internal systems (e.g., HR databases). I think this is

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Ben Bucksch
On 28.12.2008 12:13, Kai Engert wrote: From my perspective, it's a CA's job to ensure competent verification of certificate requests. The auditing required for CAs is supposed to prove it. The verification task is the most important task. All people and processes involved should be part of

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Frank Hecker
Kai Engert wrote: From my perspective, it's a CA's job to ensure competent verification of certificate requests. The auditing required for CAs is supposed to prove it. snip In my opinion, it means, a CA must do this job themselves. My quick personal perspective on this (and I'll apologize in

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/29/2008 08:04 PM, Frank Hecker: When we created the policy I was well aware of the existence of RAs and of the possibility that CAs might outsource functions like domain validtion to RAs. Whether or not this is clear from the policy (and I guess it's not, since you and others are asking

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Ian G
On 29/12/08 23:37, Kyle Hamilton wrote: This comment is likely going to be viewed as being in poor taste... It is rather on point. It is also likely to be viewed as poor taste :) Wasn't it a lack of regulation that managed to put the US and the rest of the world into this economic

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Ben Bucksch
On 29.12.2008 19:04, Frank Hecker wrote: So, in theory at least a WebTrust for CAs audit is supposed to confirm management's assertions that verification of subscriber information is being done properly, including any verifications done by third-party RAs acting on behalf of the CA. In

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/30/2008 04:04 AM, Ben Bucksch: So, who actually controls that verifications are done at all? I mean, paper is nice, I can claim and write all I want, and not actually do it, but I thought the point of the audit was to *check* and control and ensure that the processes are *actually* carried

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-29 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/30/2008 04:23 AM, Eddy Nigg: This is most likely not what the Mozilla CA Policy envisioned and requires. As a matter of fact, we could have known about it and considered it insufficient during Comodo's review last spring. Unfortunately even if it came up in some form, it drowned by the

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-28 Thread Ian G
Hi Kai, long reply, I appreciate the grounding in actual policies and practices! This allows us to explore what we really can and cannot do. (I've cut two of your comments out to other posts where they might be generally intersting for the wider audience.) On 28/12/08 12:13, Kai Engert

Re: CAs and external entities (resellers, outsourcing)

2008-12-28 Thread Eddy Nigg
On 12/28/2008 01:13 PM, Kai Engert: The current Mozilla CA Certificate Policy says: 6. We require that all CAs whose certificates are distributed with our software products: ... provide attestation of their conformance to the stated verification requirements ... Kai, just to counter Ian's