path: root/doc/rfc/rfc1875.txt

Network Working Group                                           N. Berge
Request for Comments: 1875                    Norwegian Computing Center
Category: Informational                                    December 1995


                     UNINETT PCA Policy Statements

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1.   Introduction.......................................2
   2.   PCA Identity.......................................2
   3.   UNINETT - a brief overview.........................2
   4.   PCA Scope..........................................2
   4.1  The certification tree.............................3
   4.2  Use of Registration Authorities (RAs)..............3
   5.   PCA Security & Privacy.............................3
   5.1  Security requirements imposed on the PCA...........3
   5.2  Security requirements imposed on CAs...............4
   5.3  Security requirements imposed on RAs...............4
   5.4  Measures taken to protect the privacy of any
        information collected in the course of certifying
        CAs and (for CAs) users............................4
   6.   Certification Policy...............................5
   6.1  Policy and procedures when certifying CAs..........5
   6.2  Policy and procedures when certifying RAs..........5
   6.3  Policy and procedures when certifying users........5
   6.4  Validity interval for issued certificates..........6
   6.5  The CAs right to a DN and procedures to resolve DN
        conflicts..........................................6
   6.6  The users right to a DN and procedures to resolve
        DN conflicts.......................................6
   7.   Certificate Management.............................7
   8.   CRL Management.....................................7
   9.   Naming Conventions.................................8
   10.  Business Issues....................................9
   10.1 Legal agreement concerning CAs.....................9
   10.2 Legal agreement concerning RAs.....................9
   10.3 Fees...............................................9
   11.  Other..............................................9
   11.1 Distribution of software needed by CAs, RAs and
        users..............................................9
   12.  Security Considerations............................9



Berge                        Informational                      [Page 1]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


   13.  References........................................10
   14.  Author's Address..................................10

1. Introduction

   This document provides information about policy statements submitted
   by the UNINETT Policy Certification Authority (UNINETT PCA).

   It's purpose is to provide information to members of the Internet
   community who wish to evaluate the trust they can place in a
   certification path that includes a certificate issued by the UNINETT
   PCA, or to set up a CA to be certified by the UNINETT PCA.

2. PCA Identity

   Distinguished Name (DN): C=no, O=uninett, OU=pca

   The UNINETT PCA will be run by:
   Norwegian Computing Center
   Gaustadallien 23
   P.O.Box 114 Blindern,
   N-0314 Oslo, Norway

   Contact person:
   Nils Harald Berge
   Email: Nils.Harald.Berge@nr.no
   Tel.: (+47) 22 85 25 00
   Fax : (+47) 22 69 76 60

   Duration: This policy is valid from Oct 1, 1995 to Jan 1, 1998

   Info about this PCA is available at: http://www.uninett.no/pca/

3. UNINETT - a brief overview

   UNINETT is a Limited Company (AS) operating the Norwegian network for
   academics and research. It is incorporated under Norwegian law, and
   it's company number is 968100211.

   More information is available from the UNINETT web server at:
   http://www.uninett.no/

4. PCA Scope

   The scope of the UNINETT PCA is determined by UNINETT Policy. It will
   chiefly certify CAs to run on behalf of legal entities such as
   schools and companies.




Berge                        Informational                      [Page 2]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


4.1 The certification tree

   The certification tree beneath the UNINETT PCA comprise three
   distinct entities: Certification Authorities (CAs), Registration
   Authorities (RAs) and users. CAs are described in the PEM documents
   [1,2,3,4]. An explanation of RAs is given bellow.

   There will be one CA, with possible sublevel CAs, per UNINETT member
   organization. The CA may be run by the organization itself, or by the
   organization running the PCA for organizations who do not want to
   take on the responsibility themselves.

4.2 Use of Registration Authorities (RAs)

   Since the CA may be located far away from the users, local
   authorities are needed for physical identification/authentication of
   users. For security reasons, and to avoid an unnecessary large number
   of CAs, these authorities are not allowed to issue certificates.

   A registration authority (RA) is an ordinary user, appointed by an
   organization or an organizational unit and trusted by a CA, serving
   as a point of contact for persons who want to register as users, i.e.
   to have a certificate issued. In order to avoid faked requests for
   certification, users must send their self-signed certificate to an
   appropriate RA, and then physically visit the RA with proof of
   identity. The RA will forward the self-signed certificate to the CA
   in a message signed by the RA, if the user is properly authenticated.

   For bulk certification (see 5.3) the RA must physically verify the
   identity of the user before giving out the password for access to the
   users private key.

   A CA may appoint as many RAs as it wish. The only difference between
   certifying an RA and an ordinary user is that the RA (a person) must
   sign an agreement with the certifying CA, stating the obligation to
   adhere to the agreed procedures.

5. PCA Security & Privacy

5.1 Security requirements imposed on the PCA

   - The PCA will have its private key stored on a smartcard.

   - The PCA will be run on a dedicated workstation with no network
     connection. The workstation will be physically secured.

   - Exchanging data between the PCA workstation and the rest of the
     world will be done by using tapes or floppy discs.



Berge                        Informational                      [Page 3]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


   - The PCA RSA key pair will have a length of 1024 bits.

   - Backups from the PCA workstation must be stored in at least one off
     site location. Backups must be physically secured

5.2 Security requirements imposed on CAs that are to be certified

   - A CA must be run on a dedicated workstation with no network
     connection. The workstation must be physically secured.

   - Exchanging data between the CA workstation and the rest of the world
     must be done by using tapes or floppy discs.

   - The CA RSA key pair must have a minimum length of 1024 bits.

   A security requirements document concerning CAs will be made
   available online, and expected to be obeyed.

5.3 Security requirements imposed on RAs that are to be certified

   - RAs must use a work station, with remote login disabled. Use of
     X-terminal, terminal emulator etc. with processes running on a
     remote machine is strictly prohibited.

   - The RA RSA key pair must have a minimum length of 512 bits.

   A security requirements document concerning RAs will be made
   available online, and expected to be obeyed.

5.4 Measures taken to protect the privacy of any information collected
    in the course of certifying CAs and (for CAs) users.

   CAs will not collect any security relevant information about users.
   In those cases when CAs generate keys (and certificates) on behalf of
   users, all information pertaining the users private key will be
   securely deleted after it has been received by the user.  CAs will
   always generate their own key pairs, thus no security relevant
   information will be collected by the PCA.

   All archived material concerning DNs for users will be stored on the
   CA workstations, which are physically protected and does not have any
   network connections.









Berge                        Informational                      [Page 4]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


6. Certification Policy

6.1 Policy and procedures when certifying CAs

   In order to be certified, a CA must sign an agreement with the
   UNINETT PCA stating the obligation to adhere to the agreed
   procedures.

   The persons responsible for running the CA will be evaluated by the
   UNINETT PCA, in order to determine whether they exhibit the necessary
   qualifications and have access to the resources needed in order to
   run the CA securely.

   The CA must submit its self signed certificate to the UNINETT PCA.

6.2 Policy and procedures when certifying RAs

   The organization or organizational unit is responsible for appointing
   RA persons, typically 1-3 persons per organization/unit. The person
   representing the RA must sign an agreement with the certifying CA,
   stating the obligation to adhere to the agreed procedures in order to
   be certified.

   The person representing the RA will be evaluated by the certifying
   CA, in order to determine whether he/she exhibits the necessary
   qualifications and has access to the resources needed to run the RA
   securely.

   The RA must submit its self signed certificate to the certifying CA.
   In the absence of RAs, or equivalent, the validity of the
   certification request (i.e. the identity of the requestor) must be
   verified by "out of band" means. These means will vary from case to
   case, depending on physical distance, prior knowledge etc.

6.3 Policy and procedures when certifying users

   There are two ways in which a user can be certified:

   - individual certification, or
   - bulk certification

   When applying individual certification, a user will generate his own
   key pair, and his own self-signed certificate. The certification
   procedure follows the PEM documents [1,2,3,4], with the exception
   that the certification request will be sent to an RA. The user must
   then visit the RA with proof of identity





Berge                        Informational                      [Page 5]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


   Bulk certification of users will typically be done when it is
   desirable to certify many users belonging to the same organization.
   An example could be the certification of students at the beginning of
   a semester, or initial certification of all employees belonging to a
   company. When bulk certifying users, the CA will generate the users'
   key pairs and certificates. A user's key pair together with the
   certificate will be DES-encrypted and sent electronically to the
   user.  The pass phrase to generate the DES-key can be collected at
   the local RA, given proof of identity. The pass phrase can also be
   sent by certified surface mail.

   When bulk certifying users the CA or RA shall not access or store any
   of the users' private information.

   A person's identity is verified by:

   - driver's licence
   - passport
   - bank card (Norwegian)

   CA and RA need not be separate entities. A CA may verify the identity
   of users directly, following the procedures described above.

6.4 Validity interval for issued certificates

   Validity interval for user and RA certificates is maximum 2 years
   from date of issue.

   There is in principle no special requirements regarding validity
   intervals for CA certificates, though it is recommended not to issue
   certificates for more than a 10 year period.

6.5 The CAs right to a DN and procedures to resolve DN conflicts

   CAs will preferably use DNs reflecting the organizational scope under
   which they certify users (see also "Naming conventions"). The
   certifying entity must ensure, with the aid of X.500 as
   disambiguation tool, the uniqueness of a DN.

6.6 The user's right to a DN and procedures to resolve DN conflicts

   It is the certifying CA who will determine a user's DN and ensure,
   with the aid of X.500 as disambiguation tool, the uniqueness of a DN.
   Users will preferably use DNs reflecting the organization to which
   they belong, and their full name (see also "Naming conventions").






Berge                        Informational                      [Page 6]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


7. Certificate management

   UNINETTs X.500 service will be used when storing certificates
   belonging to users within UNINETT member organizations. Other users
   may also use the X.500 service if available. All certificates issued
   will be maintained in a local database by the certifying entity in
   addition to the X.500 directory. If a CA does not have access to the
   X.500 service, all issued certificates must be mailed to the UNINETT
   PCA who will make the X.500 entries on behalf of the CA.

   Certificates can be requested in two ways, either directly from the
   X.500 directory, or by querying a mail-responder service maintained
   by the UNINETT PCA.

   Details on how certificates are mailed, and how to use the mail-
   responder service can be found at the following WWW site:
   http://www.uninett.no/pca/

8. CRL Management

   Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) must be issued at least once a
   month, on a specified date, by CAs. The UNINETT X.500 service will be
   used to publish CRLs. If a CA does not have access to the X.500
   service the CRL must be mailed to the UNINETT PCA who will make the
   X.500 entries on behalf of the CA.

   CRLs can be requested in two ways, either directly from the X.500
   directory, or by querying a mail-responder service maintained by the
   UNINETT PCA.

   Details on how CRLs are mailed, and how to use the mail-responder
   service can be found at the following WWW site:

   http://www.uninett.no/pca/

   The UNINETT PCA will continually update the CRL with revoked CA
   certificates.

   There is no automatic distribution service of CRLs. Therefore users
   will have to pull CRLs from the X.500 or the mail-responder. Black
   lists are currently not supported. Appropriate news groups and
   information services will be used to announce the issuance of new
   CRLs.








Berge                        Informational                      [Page 7]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


9. Naming Conventions

   Naming conventions for CAs:

   CAs' DNs will follow the conventions adopted by their organization.
   Organizations who do not have any preferences in this matter should
   use the following scheme:

   C=<country>, O=<organization> [, OU=<organizational-unit>]

   Country is the country code, e.g. all Norwegian organizations have
   C=no. Organization is the organization represented by the CA (e.g.
   the scope for which the CA certify users). Organizational-unit is
   optional, reflecting a unit within a large organization for cases in
   which the organization has more than one CA. Example: the CA
   responsible for certifying UNINETT employees will be assigned the
   following DN: C=no, O=uninett

   Naming conventions for users:

   Users' DNs will follow the conventions adopted by their organization.
   Organizations who do not have any preferences in this matter should
   use the following scheme:

   C=<country>, O=<organization>, [OU=<organizational-unit>,]
   CN=<personal name>

   Personal name will be a unique name for the user with respect to the
   organization to which the user belongs. An organization's CA is
   responsible for ensuring that all certified users have a distinct
   personal name. Usually personal name will be the user's full name.
   Use of OU is optional. Example if Per Olsen is an employee of UNINETT
   he will be assigned the following DN: C=no, O=uninett, CN=Per Olsen.

   The choice of which users to certify as belonging to the organization
   is made by the CA, not by the PCA.















Berge                        Informational                      [Page 8]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


10. Business Issues

10.1 Legal agreements concerning CAs

   If a CA wishes to be certified by the UNINETT PCA, the CA will have
   to sign a legal agreement with the UNINETT PCA. The legal agreement
   can be obtained by contacting the UNINETT PCA.

10.2 Legal agreements concerning RAs

   If an RA wishes to be certified by a CA, a person representing the RA
   will have to sign a legal agreement with the CA. The legal agreement
   can be obtained from the appropriate CA, or directly from the UNINETT
   PCA. Each CA will locally decide whether the RA is to be certified.

10.3 Fees

   The UNINETT PCA reserves the right to charge fees. The fee structure
   will be determined by UNINETT policy.

11. Other

11.1 Distribution of software needed by CAs, RAs and users

   The software needed is based on the SecuDE-package from GMD
   Darmstadt, and is available without fee for non-commercial purposes.
   All software distributions should include a signature from the
   UNINETT PCA to verify its integrity. Users, CAs, and RAs are expected
   to verify such signatures immediately after installation.

12. Security Considerations

   Security issues are discussed throughout this memo.


















Berge                        Informational                      [Page 9]
^L
RFC 1875             UNINETT PCA Policy Statements         December 1995


13. References

   [1] Linn, J., "Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail: Part
       I: Message Encryption and Authentication Procedures", RFC 1421,
       IAB IRTF PSRG, IETF PEM WG, February 1993.

   [2] Kent, S., "Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail: Part
       II: Certificate-Based Key Management", RFC 1422, IAB IRTF PSRG,
       IETF PEM, BBN, February 1993.

   [3] Balenson, D., "Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail:
       Part III: Algorithms, Modes, and Identifiers", RFC 1423, IAB IRTF
       PSRG, IETF PEM WG, TIS, February 1993.

   [4] Kaliski, B., "Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail:
       Part IV: Key Certification and Related Services", RFC 1424, RSA
       Laboratories, February 1993.

14. Author's Address

   Nils Harald Berge
   Norwegian Computing Center
   Gaustadallien 23
   P.O.Box 114 Blindern,
   N-0314 Oslo, Norway

   Phone: (+47) 22 85 25 00
   Fax : (+47) 22 69 76 60
   EMail: Nils.Harald.Berge@nr.no






















Berge                        Informational                     [Page 10]
^L