summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/doc/rfc/rfc3628.txt
blob: a624a636994acaf7d695fe148d2a1888cef8b668 (plain) (blame)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2051
2052
2053
2054
2055
2056
2057
2058
2059
2060
2061
2062
2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068
2069
2070
2071
2072
2073
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
2080
2081
2082
2083
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
2092
2093
2094
2095
2096
2097
2098
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104
2105
2106
2107
2108
2109
2110
2111
2112
2113
2114
2115
2116
2117
2118
2119
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138
2139
2140
2141
2142
2143
2144
2145
2146
2147
2148
2149
2150
2151
2152
2153
2154
2155
2156
2157
2158
2159
2160
2161
2162
2163
2164
2165
2166
2167
2168
2169
2170
2171
2172
2173
2174
2175
2176
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
2182
2183
2184
2185
2186
2187
2188
2189
2190
2191
2192
2193
2194
2195
2196
2197
2198
2199
2200
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206
2207
2208
2209
2210
2211
2212
2213
2214
2215
2216
2217
2218
2219
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226
2227
2228
2229
2230
2231
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236
2237
2238
2239
2240
2241
2242
2243
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2249
2250
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256
2257
2258
2259
2260
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
2267
2268
2269
2270
2271
2272
2273
2274
2275
2276
2277
2278
2279
2280
2281
2282
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291
2292
2293
2294
2295
2296
2297
2298
2299
2300
2301
2302
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308
2309
2310
2311
2312
2313
2314
2315
2316
2317
2318
2319
2320
2321
2322
2323
2324
2325
2326
2327
2328
2329
2330
2331
2332
2333
2334
2335
2336
2337
2338
2339
2340
2341
2342
2343
2344
2345
2346
2347
2348
2349
2350
2351
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2367
2368
2369
2370
2371
2372
2373
2374
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379
2380
2381
2382
2383
2384
2385
2386
2387
2388
2389
2390
2391
2392
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398
2399
2400
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406
2407
2408
2409
2410
2411
Network Working Group                                          D. Pinkas
Request for Comments: 3628                                          Bull
Category: Informational                                          N. Pope
                                                                 J. Ross
                                                    Security & Standards
                                                           November 2003


        Policy Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities (TSAs)

Status of this Memo

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

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines requirements for a baseline time-stamp policy
   for Time-Stamping Authorities (TSAs) issuing time-stamp tokens,
   supported by public key certificates, with an accuracy of one second
   or better.  A TSA may define its own policy which enhances the policy
   defined in this document.  Such a policy shall incorporate or further
   constrain the requirements identified in this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  Definitions and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       3.1. Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       3.2. Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  General Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       4.1. Time-Stamping Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       4.2. Time-Stamping Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.3. Subscriber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.4. Time-Stamp Policy and TSA Practice Statement . . . . . .  8
            4.4.1.  Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
            4.4.2.  Level of Specificity . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
            4.4.3.  Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   5.  Time-Stamp Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       5.1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       5.2. Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       5.3. User Community and Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . 10



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 1]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


       5.4. Conformance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   6.  Obligations and Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       6.1. TSA Obligations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
            6.1.1.  General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
            6.1.2.  TSA Obligations Towards Subscribers. . . . . . . 11
       6.2. Subscriber Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       6.3. Relying Party Obligations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       6.4. Liability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   7.  Requirements on TSA Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       7.1. Practice and Disclosure Statements . . . . . . . . . . . 12
            7.1.1.  TSA Practice Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
            7.1.2.  TSA Disclosure Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       7.2. Key Management Life Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
            7.2.1.  TSU Key Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
            7.2.2.  TSU Private Key Protection . . . . . . . . . . . 15
            7.2.3.  TSU Public Key Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . 16
            7.2.4.  Rekeying TSU's Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
            7.2.5.  End of TSU Key Life Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
            7.2.6.  Life Cycle Management of the Cryptographic Module
                    used to Sign Time-Stamps . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       7.3. Time-Stamping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
            7.3.1.  Time-Stamp Token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
            7.3.2.  Clock Synchronization with UTC . . . . . . . . . 19
       7.4. TSA Management and Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
            7.4.1.  Security Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
            7.4.2.  Asset Classification and Management. . . . . . . 21
            7.4.3.  Personnel Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
            7.4.4.  Physical and Environmental Security. . . . . . . 23
            7.4.5.  Operations Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
            7.4.6.  System Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
            7.4.7.  Trustworthy Systems Deployment and Maintenance . 27
            7.4.8.  Compromise of TSA Services . . . . . . . . . . . 28
            7.4.9.  TSA Termination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
            7.4.10. Compliance with Legal Requirements . . . . . . . 29
            7.4.11. Recording of Information Concerning Operation
                    of Time-Stamping Services. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
       7.5. Organizational . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   9.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   10. References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
       10.1. Normative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
       10.2. Informative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   Annex A (informative): Coordinated Universal Time . . . . . . . . 35
   Annex B (informative): Possible for Implementation Architectures
                          and Time-Stamping Services . . . . . . . . 36
   Annex C (informative): Long Term Verification of Time-Stamp
                          Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
   Annex D (informative): Model TSA Disclosure Statement . . . . . . 39



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 2]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   Authors' Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
   Full Copyright Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

1.  Introduction

   The contents of this Informational RFC is technically equivalent to
   ETSI TS 102 023 V 1.2.1 (2002-06) [TS 102023].  The ETSI TS is under
   the ETSI Copyright (C).  Individual copies of this ETSI deliverable
   can be downloaded from http://www.etsi.org

   In creating reliable and manageable digital evidence it is necessary
   to have an agreed upon method of associating time data to transaction
   so that they might be compared to each other at a later time.  The
   quality of this evidence is based on creating and managing the data
   structure that represent the events and the quality of the parametric
   data points that anchor them to the real world.  In this instance
   this being the time data and how it was applied.

   A typical transaction is a digitally signed document, where it is
   necessary to prove that the digital signature from the signer was
   applied when the signer's certificate was valid.

   A timestamp or a time mark (which is an audit record kept in a secure
   audit trail from a trusted third party) applied to a digital
   signature value proves that the digital signature was created before
   the date included in the time-stamp or time mark.

   To prove the digital signature was generated while the signer's
   certificate was valid, the digital signature must be verified and the
   following conditions satisfied:

      1. the time-stamp (or time mark) was applied before the end of the
         validity period of the signer's certificate,

      2. the time-stamp (or time mark) was applied either while the
         signer's certificate was not revoked or before the revocation
         date of the certificate.

   Thus a time-stamp (or time mark) applied in this manner proves that
   the digital signature was created while the signer's certificate was
   valid. This concept proves the validity of a digital signature over
   the whole of any certificate chain.

   Policy requirements to cover that case is the primary reason of this
   document.  However, it should be observed that these policy
   requirements can be used to address other needs.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 3]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   The electronic time stamp is gaining interest from the business
   sector as an important component of electronic signatures.  It is
   also featured by the ETSI Electronic Signature Format standard [TS
   101733] or Electronic Signature Formats for long term electronic
   signatures [RFC 3126], built upon the Time-Stamp Protocol [RFC 3161].
   Agreed minimum security and quality requirements are necessary in
   order to ensure trustworthy validation of long-term electronic
   signatures.

   The European Directive 1999/93/EC [Dir 99/93/EC] defines
   certification service provider as "an entity or a legal or natural
   person who issues certificates or provides other services related to
   electronic signatures".  One example of a certification-service-
   provider is a Time-Stamping Authority.

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
   [RFC 2119].

2.  Overview

   These policy requirements are aimed at time-stamping services used in
   support of qualified electronic signatures (i.e., in line with
   article 5.1 of the European Directive on a community framework for
   electronic signatures) but may be applied to any application
   requiring to prove that a datum existed before a particular time.

   These policy requirements are based on the use of public key
   cryptography, public key certificates and reliable time sources. The
   present document may be used by independent bodies as the basis for
   confirming that a TSA may be trusted for providing time-stamping
   services.

   This document addresses requirements for synchronizing TSAs issuing
   time-stamp tokens with Coordinated universal time (UTC) and digitally
   signed by TSUs.

   Subscriber and relying parties should consult the TSA's practice
   statement to obtain further details of precisely how this time-stamp
   policy is implemented by the particular TSA (e.g., protocols used in
   providing this service).

   This document does not specify:

      - protocols used to access the TSUs;





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 4]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   NOTE 1: A time-stamping protocol is defined in RFC 3161 [RFC 3161]
   and profiled in TS 101 861 [TS 101861].

      -  how the requirements identified herein may be assessed by an
         independent body;

      -  requirements for information to be made available to such
         independent bodies;

      -  requirements on such independent bodies.

   NOTE 2: See CEN Workshop Agreement 14172 "EESSI Conformity Assessment
   Guidance" [CWA 14172].

3.  Definitions and Abbreviations

3.1.  Definitions

   For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and
   definitions apply:

   NOTE: Where a definition is copied from a referenced document this is
   indicated by inclusion of the reference identifier number at the end
   of the definition.

   relying party: recipient of a time-stamp token who relies on that
         time-stamp token.

   subscriber: entity requiring the services provided by a TSA and which
         has explicitly or implicitly agreed to its terms and
         conditions.

   time-stamp token: data object that binds a representation of a datum
         to a particular time, thus establishing evidence that the datum
         existed before that time.

   time-stamping authority: authority which issues time-stamp tokens.

   TSA Disclosure statement: set of statements about the policies and
         practices of a TSA that particularly require emphasis or
         disclosure to subscribers and relying parties, for example to
         meet regulatory requirements.

   TSA practice statement: statement of the practices that a TSA employs
         in issuing time-stamp tokens.

   TSA system: composition of IT products and components organized to
         support the provision of time-stamping services.



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 5]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   time-stamp policy: named set of rules that indicates the
         applicability of a time-stamp token to a particular community
         and/or class of application with common security requirements.

   time-stamping unit: set of hardware and software which is managed as
         a unit and has a single time-stamp token signing key active at
         a time.

   Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): Time scale based on the second as
         defined in ITU-R Recommendation TF.460-5 [TF.460-5].

         NOTE: For most practical purposes UTC is equivalent to mean
         solar time at the prime meridian.  More specifically, UTC is a
         compromise between the highly stable atomic time (Temps
         Atomique International
          - TAI) and solar time derived from the irregular Earth
         rotation (related to the Greenwich mean sidereal time (GMST) by
         a conventional relationship).  (See annex A for more details).

   UTC(k): Time-scale realized by the laboratory "k" and kept in close
         agreement with UTC, with the goal to reach plus or minus 100
         ns. (See ITU-R Recommendation TF.536-1 [TF.536-1]).

         NOTE:  A list of UTC(k) laboratories is given in section 1 of
         Circular T disseminated by BIPM and available from the BIPM
         website (http://www.bipm.org/).

3.2.  Abbreviations

   For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations
   apply:

      TSA  Time-Stamping Authority
      TSU  Time-Stamping Unit
      TST  Time-Stamp Token
      UTC  Coordinated Universal Time

4.  General Concepts

4.1.  Time-Stamping Services

   The provision of time-stamping services is broken down into the
   following component services for the purposes of classifying
   requirements:

   -  Time-stamping provision: This service component generates
      time-stamp tokens.




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 6]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   -  Time-stamping management: The service component that monitors and
      controls the operation of the time-stamping services to ensure
      that the service is provided as specified by the TSA.  This
      service component is responsibile  for the installation and
      de-installation of the time-stamping provision service. For
      example, time-stamping management ensures that the clock used for
      time-stamping is correctly synchronized with UTC.

   This subdivision of services is only for the purposes of clarifying
   the requirements specified in the current document and places no
   restrictions on any subdivision of an implementation of time-stamping
   services.

4.2.  Time-Stamping Authority

   The authority to issue time-stamp tokens, trusted by the users of the
   time-stamping services, i.e., subscribers and relying parties, is
   called the Time-Stamping Authority (TSA).  TSA has overall
   responsibility for time-stamping services identified in clause 4.1.
   The TSA has responsibility for the operation of one or more TSU's
   which creates and signs on behalf of the TSA.  The TSA responsible
   for issuing a time-stamp token is identifiable (see 7.3.1 h).

   The TSA may use other parties to provide parts of the Time-Stamping
   Services.  However, the TSA always maintains overall responsibility
   and ensures that the policy requirements identified in the present
   document are met.  For example, a TSA may sub-contract all the
   component services, including the services which generate time-stamp
   tokens using the TSU's keys.  However, the private key or keys used
   to generate the time-stamp tokens belong to the TSA which maintains
   overall responsibility for meeting the requirements in this document.

   A TSA may operate several identifiable time-stamping units.  Each
   unit has a different key.  See Annex B for possible implementations.

   A TSA is a certification-service-provider, as defined in the EU
   Directive on Electronic Signatures (see article 2(11)), which issues
   time-stamp tokens.

4.3.  Subscriber

   The subscriber may be an organization comprising several end-users or
   an individual end-user.

   When the subscriber is an organization, some of the obligations that
   apply to that organization will have to apply as well to the end-
   users. In any case the organization will be held responsible if the




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 7]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   obligations from the end-users are not correctly fulfilled and
   therefore the organization is expected to suitably inform its end
   users.

   When the subscriber is an end-user, the end-user will be held
   directly responsible if its obligations are not correctly fulfilled.

4.4.  Time-Stamp Policy and TSA Practice Statement

   This section explains the relative roles of Time-stamp policy and TSA
   practice statement.  It places no restriction on the form of a time-
   stamp policy or practice statement specification.

4.4.1.  Purpose

   In general, the time-stamp policy states "what is to be adhered to,"
   while a TSA practice statement states "how it is adhered to", i.e.,
   the processes it will use in creating time-stamps and maintaining the
   accuracy of its clock.  The relationship between the time-stamp
   policy and TSA practice statement is similar in nature to the
   relationship of other business policies which state the requirements
   of the business, while operational units define the practices and
   procedures of how these policies are to be carried out.

   The present document specifies a time-stamp policy to meet general
   requirements for trusted time-stamping services.  TSAs specify in TSA
   practice statements how these requirements are met.

4.4.2.  Level of Specificity

   The TSA practice statement is more specific than a time-stamp policy.
   A TSA practice statement is a more detailed description of the terms
   and conditions as well as business and operational practices of a TSA
   in issuing and otherwise managing time-stamping services.  The TSA
   practice statement of a TSA enforces the rules established by a
   time-stamp policy.  A TSA practice statement defines how a specific
   TSA meets the technical, organizational and procedural requirements
   identified in a time-stamp policy.

   NOTE: Even lower-level internal documentation may be appropriate for
   a TSA detailing the specific procedures necessary to complete the
   practices identified in the TSA practice statement.

4.4.3.  Approach

   The approach of a time-stamp policy is significantly different from a
   TSA practice statement.  A time-stamp policy is defined independently
   of the specific details of the specific operating environment of a



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 8]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   TSA, whereas a TSA practice statement is tailored to the
   organizational structure, operating procedures, facilities, and
   computing environment of a TSA.  A time-stamp policy may be defined
   by the user of times-stamp services, whereas the TSA practice
   statement is always defined by the provider.

5.  Time-Stamp Policies

5.1.  Overview

   A time-stamp policy is a "named set of rules that indicates the
   applicability of a time-stamp token to a particular community and/or
   class of application with common security requirements" (see clauses
   3.1 and 4.4).

   The present document defines requirements for a baseline time-stamp
   policy for TSAs issuing time-stamp tokens, supported by public key
   certificates, with an accuracy of 1 second or better.

   NOTE 1: Without additional measures the relying party may not be able
   to ensure the validity of a time-stamp token beyond the end of the
   validity period of the supporting certificate.  See Annex C on
   verification of the validity of a time-stamp token beyond the
   validity period of the TSU's certificate.

   A TSA may define its own policy which enhances the policy defined in
   this document.  Such a policy shall incorporate or further constrain
   the requirements identified in this document.

   If an accuracy of better than 1 second is provided by a TSA and if
   all the TSUs have that same characteristics, then the accuracy shall
   be indicated in the TSA's disclosure statement (see section 7.1.2)
   that  each time-stamp token is issued with an accuracy of better than
   1 second.

   NOTE 2: It is required that a time-stamp token includes an identifier
   for the applicable policy (see section 7.3.1).

5.2.  Identification

   The object-identifier [X.208] of the baseline time-stamp policy is:
   itu-t(0) identified-organization(4) etsi(0) time-stamp-policy(2023)
   policy-identifiers(1) baseline-ts-policy (1)

   In the TSA disclosure statement made available to subscribers and
   relying parties, a TSA shall also include the identifier for the
   time-stamp policy to indicate its conformance.




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                      [Page 9]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


5.3.  User Community and Applicability

   This policy is aimed at meeting the requirements of time-stamping
   qualified electronic signatures (see European Directive on Electronic
   Signatures) for long term validity (e.g., as defined in TS 101 733
   [TS 101733]), but is generally applicable to any requirement for an
   equivalent quality.

   This policy may be used for public time-stamping services or time-
   stamping services used within a closed community.

5.4.  Conformance

   The TSA shall use the identifier for the time-stamp policy in time-
   stamp tokens as given in section 5.2, or define its own time-stamp
   policy that incorporates or further constrains the requirements
   identified in the present document:

   a) if the TSA claims conformance to the identified time-stamp policy
      and makes available to subscribers and relying parties on request
      the evidence to support the claim of conformance; or

   b) if the TSA has been assessed to conform to the identified time-
      stamp policy by an independent party.

   A conformant TSA must demonstrate that:

   a) it meets its obligations as defined in section 6.1;
   b) it has implemented controls which meet the requirements specified
      in section 7.

6.  Obligations and Liability

6.1.  TSA Obligations

6.1.1.  General

   The TSA shall ensure that all requirements on TSA, as detailed in
   section 7, are implemented as applicable to the selected trusted
   time-stamp policy.

   The TSA shall ensure conformance with the procedures prescribed in
   this policy, even when the TSA functionality is undertaken by sub-
   contractors.

   The TSA shall also ensure adherence to any additional obligations
   indicated in the time-stamp either directly or incorporated by
   reference.



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 10]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   The TSA shall provide all its time-stamping services consistent with
   its practice statement.

6.1.2.  TSA Obligations Towards Subscribers

   The TSA shall meet its claims as given in its terms and conditions
   including the availability and accuracy of its service.

6.2.  Subscriber Obligations

   The current document places no specific obligations on the subscriber
   beyond any TSA specific requirements stated in the TSA's terms and
   condition.

   NOTE:  It is advisable that, when obtaining a time-stamp token, the
   subscriber verifies that the time-stamp token has been correctly
   signed and that the private key used to sign the time-stamp token has
   not been compromised.

6.3.  Relying Party Obligations

   The terms and conditions made available to relying parties (see
   section 7.1.2) shall include an obligation on the relying party that,
   when relying on a time-stamp token, it shall:

   a) verify that the time-stamp token has been correctly signed and
      that the private key used to sign the time-stamp has not been
      compromised until the time of the verification;

      NOTE: During the TSU's certificate validity period, the validity
      of the signing key can be checked using current revocation status
      for the TSU's certificate.  If the time of verification exceeds
      the end of the validity period of the corresponding certificate,
      see annex C for guidance.

   b) take into account any limitations on the usage of the time-stamp
      indicated by the time-stamp policy;

   c) take into account any other precautions prescribed in agreements
      or elsewhere.

6.4.  Liability

   The present document does not specify any requirement on liability.
   In particular, it should be noticed that a TSA may disclaim or limit
   any liability unless otherwise stipulated by the applicable law.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 11]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


7.  Requirements on TSA Practices

   The TSA shall implement the controls that meet the following
   requirements.

   These policy requirements are not meant to imply any restrictions on
   charging for TSA services.

   The requirements are indicated in terms of the security objectives,
   followed by more specific requirements for controls to meet those
   objectives where it is necessary to provide confidence that those
   objective will be met.

      NOTE: The details of controls required to meet an objective is a
      balance between achieving the necessary confidence whilst
      minimizing the restrictions on the techniques that a TSA may
      employ in issuing time-stamp tokens.  In the case of section 7.4
      (TSA management and operation), a reference is made to a source of
      more detailed control requirements.  Due to these factors the
      specificity of the requirements given under a given topic may
      vary.

   The provision of a time-stamp token in response to a request is at
   the discretion of the TSA depending on any service level agreements
   with the subscriber.

7.1.  Practice and Disclosure Statements

7.1.1.  TSA Practice Statement

   The TSA shall ensure that it demonstrates the reliability necessary
   for providing time-stamping services.

   In particular:

   a) The TSA shall have a risk assessment carried out in order to
      evaluate business assets and threats to those assets in order to
      determine the necessary security controls and operational
      procedures.

   b) The TSA shall have a statement of the practices and procedures
      used to address all the requirements identified in this time-stamp
      policy.

      NOTE 1: This policy makes no requirement as to the structure of
      the TSA practice statement.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 12]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   c) The TSA's practice statement shall identify the obligations of all
      external organizations supporting the TSA services including the
      applicable policies and practices.

   d) The TSA shall make available to subscribers and relying parties
      its practice statement, and other relevant documentation, as
      necessary, to assess conformance to the time-stamp policy.

      NOTE 2: The TSA is not generally required to make all the details
      of its practices public.

   e) The TSA shall disclose to all subscribers and potential relying
      parties the terms and conditions regarding use of its time-
      stamping services as specified in section 7.1.2.

   f) The TSA shall have a high level management body with final
      authority for approving the TSA practice statement.

   g) The senior management of the TSA shall ensure that the practices
      are properly implemented.

   h) The TSA shall define a review process for the practices including
      responsibilities for maintaining the TSA practice statement.

   i) The TSA shall give due notice of changes it intends to make in its
      practice statement and shall, following approval as in (f) above,
      make the revised TSA practice statement immediately available as
      required under (d) above.

7.1.2.  TSA Disclosure Statement

   The TSA shall disclose to all subscribers and potential relying
   parties the terms and conditions regarding use of its time-stamping
   services.  This statement shall at least specify for each time-stamp
   policy supported by the TSA:

   a) The TSA contact information.

   b) The time-stamp policy being applied.

   c) At least one hashing algorithm which may be used to represent the
      datum being time-stamped. (No hash algorithm is mandated).

   d) The expected life-time of the signature used to sign the time-
      stamp token (depends on the hashing algorithm being used, the
      signature algorithm being used and the private key length).





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 13]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   e) The accuracy of the time in the time-stamp tokens with respect to
      UTC.

   f) Any limitations on the use of the time-stamping service.

   g) The subscriber's obligations as defined in section 6.2, if any.

   h) The relying party's obligations as defined in section 6.3.

   i) Information on how to verify the time-stamp token such that the
      relying party is considered to "reasonably rely" on the time-stamp
      token (see section 6.3) and any possible limitations on the
      validity period.

   j) The period of time during which TSA event logs (see section
      7.4.10) are retained.

   k) The applicable legal system, including any claim to meet the
      requirements on time-stamping services under national law.

   l) Limitations of liability.

   m) Procedures for complaints and dispute settlement.

   n) If the TSA has been assessed to be conformant with the identified
      time-stamp policy, and if so by which independent body.

      NOTE 1: It is also recommended that the TSA includes in its
      time-stamping disclosure statement availability of its service,
      for example the expected mean time between failure of the time-
      stamping service, the mean time to recovery following a failure,
      and provisions made for disaster recovery including back-up
      services;

      This information shall be available through a durable means of
      communication.  This information shall be available in a readily
      understandable language.  It may be transmitted electronically.

      NOTE 2: A model TSA disclosure statement which may be used as the
      basis of such a communication is given in annex D. Alternatively
      this may be provided as part of a subscriber / relying party
      agreement.  These TSA disclosure statements may be included in a
      TSA practice statement provided that they are conspicuous to the
      reader.







Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 14]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


7.2.  Key Management Life Cycle

7.2.1.  TSA Key Generation

   The TSA shall ensure that any cryptographic keys are generated in
   under controlled circumstances.

   In particular:

   a) The generation of the TSU's signing key(s) shall be undertaken in
      a physically secured environment (see section 7.4.4) by personnel
      in trusted roles (see section 7.4.3) under, at least, dual
      control.  The personnel authorized to carry out this function
      shall be limited to those requiring to do so under the TSA's
      practices.

   b) The generation of the TSU's signing key(s) shall be carried out
      within a cryptographic module(s) which either:

      -  meets the requirements identified in FIPS 140-1 [FIPS 140-1]
         level 3 or higher, or

      -  meets the requirements identified in CEN Workshop Agreement
         14167-2 [CWA 14167-2], or

      -  is a trustworthy system which is assured to EAL 4 or higher in
         accordance to ISO 15408 [ISO 15408], or equivalent security
         criteria.  This shall be to a security target or protection
         profile which meets the requirements of the current document,
         based on a risk analysis and taking into account physical and
         other non-technical security measures.

   c) The TSU key generation algorithm, the resulting signing key length
      and signature algorithm used for signing time-stamp tokens key
      shall be recognized by any national supervisory body, or in
      accordance with existing current state of art, as being fit for
      the purposes of time-stamp tokens as issued by the TSA.

7.2.2.  TSU Private Key Protection

   The TSA shall ensure that TSU private keys remain confidential and
   maintain their integrity.

   In particular:

   a) The TSU private signing key shall be held and used within a
      cryptographic module which:




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 15]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


      -  meets the requirements identified in FIPS 140-1 [FIPS 140-1]
         level 3 or higher; or

      -  meets the requirements identified in CEN Workshop Agreement
         14167-2 [CWA 14167-2]; or

      -  is a trustworthy system which is assured to EAL 4 or higher in
         accordance to ISO 15408 [ISO 15408], or equivalent security
         criteria. This shall be a security target or protection profile
         which meets the requirements of the current document, based on
         a risk analysis and taking into account physical and other
         non-technical security measures.

      NOTE: Backup of TSU private keys is deprecated in order to
      minimize risk of key compromise.

   b) If TSU private keys are backed up, they shall be copied, stored
      and recovered only by personnel in trusted roles using, at least,
      dual control in a physically secured environment. (see section
      7.4.4).  The personnel authorized to carry out this function shall
      be limited to those requiring to do so under the TSA's practices.

   c) Any backup copies of the TSU private signing keys shall be
      protected to ensure its confidentiality by the cryptographic
      module before being stored outside that device.

7.2.3.  TSU Public Key Distribution

   The TSA shall ensure that the integrity and authenticity of the TSU
   signature verification (public) keys and any associated parameters
   are maintained during its distribution to relying parties.

   In particular:

   a) TSU signature verification (public) keys shall be made available
      to relying parties in a public key certificate.

      NOTE: For example, TSU's certificates may be issued by a
      certification authority operated by the same organization as the
      TSA, or issued by another authority.

   b) The TSU's signature verification (public) key certificate shall be
      issued by a certification authority operating under a certificate
      policy which provides a level of security equivalent to, or higher
      than, this time-stamping policy.






Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 16]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


7.2.4.  Rekeying TSU's Key

   The life-time of TSU's certificate shall be not longer than the
   period of time that the chosen algorithm and key length is recognized
   as being fit for purpose (see section 7.2.1c)).

   NOTE 1: The following additional considerations apply when limiting
   that lifetime:

   -  Section 7.4.10 requires that records concerning time-stamping
      services shall be held for a period of time,as appropriate, for at
      least 1 year after the expiration of the validity of the TSU's
      signing keys.  The longer the validity period of the TSU
      certificates will be, the longer the size of the records to be
      kept will be.

   -  Should a TSU private key be compromised, then the longer the
      life-time, the more affected time-stamp tokens there will be.

   NOTE 2: TSU key compromise does not only depend on the
   characteristics of the cryptographic module being used but also on
   the procedures being used at system initialization and key export
   (when that function is supported).

7.2.5.  End of TSU Key Life Cycle

   The TSA shall ensure that TSU private signing keys are not used
   beyond the end of their life cycle.

   In particular:

   a) Operational or technical procedures shall be in place to ensure
      that a new key is put in place when a TSU's key expires.

   b) The TSU private signing keys, or any key part, including any
      copies shall be destroyed such that the private keys cannot be
      retrieved.

   c) The TST generation system SHALL reject any attempt to issue TSTs
      if the signing private key has expired.

7.2.6.  Life Cycle Management of the Cryptographic Module used to Sign
        Time-Stamps

   The TSA shall ensure the security of cryptographic hardware
   throughout its lifecycle.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 17]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   In particular the TSA shall ensure that:

   a) Time-stamp token signing cryptographic hardware is not tampered
      with during shipment;

   b) Time-stamp token signing cryptographic hardware is not tampered
      with while stored;

   c) Installation, activation and duplication of TSU's signing keys in
      cryptographic hardware shall be done only by personnel in trusted
      roles using, at least, dual control in a physically secured
      environment. (see section 7.4.4);

   d) Time-stamp token signing cryptographic hardware is functioning
      correctly; and

   e) TSU private signing keys stored on TSU cryptographic module are
      erased upon device retirement.

7.3.  Time-Stamping

7.3.1.  Time-Stamp Token

   The TSA shall ensure that time-stamp tokens are issued securely and
   include the correct time.

   In particular:

   a) The time-stamp token shall include an identifier for the time-
      stamp policy;

   b) Each time-stamp token shall have a unique identifier;

   c) The time values the TSU uses in the time-stamp token shall be
      traceable to at least one of the real time values distributed by a
      UTC(k) laboratory.

      NOTE 1: The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM)
      computes UTC on the basis of its local representations UTC(k) from
      a large ensemble of atomic clocks in national metrology institutes
      and national astronomical observatories round the world.  The BIPM
      disseminates UTC through its monthly Circular T [list 1].  This is
      available on the BIPM website (www.bipm.org) and it officially
      identifies all those institutes having recognized UTC(k) time
      scales.






Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 18]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   d) The time included in the time-stamp token shall be synchronized
      with UTC within the accuracy defined in this policy and, if
      present, within the accuracy defined in the time-stamp token
      itself;

   e) If the time-stamp provider's clock is detected (see section
      7.3.2c)) as being out of the stated accuracy (see section 7.1.2e))
      then time-stamp tokens shall not be issued.

   f) The time-stamp token shall include a representation (e.g., hash
      value) of the datum being time-stamped as provided by the
      requestor;

   g) The time-stamp token shall be signed using a key generated
      exclusively for this purpose.

      NOTE 2: A protocol for a time-stamp token is defined in RFC 3631
      and profiled in TS 101 861 [TS 101861].

      NOTE 3: In the case of a number of requests at approximately the
      same time, the ordering of the time within the accuracy of the TSU
      clock is not mandated.

   h) The time-stamp token shall include:

      -  where applicable, an identifier for the country in which the
         TSA is established;

      -  an identifier for the TSA;

      -  an identifier for the unit which issues the time-stamps.

7.3.2.  Clock Synchronization with UTC

   The TSA shall ensure that its clock is synchronized with UTC within
   the declared accuracy.

   In particular:

   a) The calibration of the TSU clocks shall be maintained such that
      the clocks shall not be expected to drift outside the declared
      accuracy.

   b) The TSU clocks shall be protected against threats which could
      result in an undetected change to the clock that takes it outside
      its calibration.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 19]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


      NOTE 1: Threats may include tampering by unauthorized personnel,
      radio or electrical shocks.

   c) The TSA shall ensure that, if the time that would be indicated in
      a time-stamp token drifts or jumps out of synchronization with
      UTC, this will be detected (see also 7.3.1e)).

      NOTE 2: Relying parties are required to be informed of such events
      (see section 7.4.8).

   d) The TSA shall ensure that clock synchronization is maintained when
      a leap second occurs as notified by the appropriate body.  The
      change to take account of the leap second shall occur during the
      last minute of the day when the leap second is scheduled to occur.
      A record shall be maintained of the exact time (within the
      declared accuracy) when this change occurred.  See annex A for
      more details.

      NOTE 3: A leap second is an adjustment to UTC by skipping or
      adding an extra second on the last second of a UTC month.  First
      preference is given to the end of December and June, and second
      preference is given to the end of March and September.

7.4.  TSA Management and Operation

7.4.1.  Security Management

   The TSA shall ensure that the administrative and management
   procedures applied are adequate and correspond to recognized best
   practice.

   In particular:

   TSA General

   a) The TSA shall retain responsibility for all aspects of the
      provision of time-stamping services within the scope of this
      time-stamp policy, whether or not functions are outsourced to
      subcontractors.  Responsibilities of third parties shall be
      clearly defined by the TSA and appropriate arrangements made to
      ensure that third parties are bound to implement any controls
      required by the TSA.  The TSA shall retain responsibility for the
      disclosure of relevant practices of all parties.








Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 20]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   b) The TSA management shall provide direction on information security
      through a suitable high level steering forum that is responsible
      for defining the TSA's information security policy.  The TSA shall
      ensure publication and communication of this policy to all
      employees who are impacted by it.

   c) The information security infrastructure necessary to manage the
      security within the TSA shall be maintained at all times.  Any
      changes that will impact on the level of security provided shall
      be approved by the TSA management forum.

      NOTE 1: See ISO/IEC 17799 [ISO 17799] for guidance on information
      security management including information security infrastructure,
      management information security forum and information security
      policies.

   d) The security controls and operating procedures for TSA facilities,
      systems and information assets providing the time-stamping
      services shall be documented, implemented and maintained.

      NOTE 2: The present documentation (commonly called a system
      security policy or manual) should identify all relevant targets,
      objects and potential threats related to the services provided and
      the safeguards required to avoid or limit the effects of those
      threats, consistent with the Risk Assessment required under
      section 7.1.1a).  It should describe the rules, directives and
      procedures regarding how the specified services and the associated
      security assurance are granted in addition to stating policy on
      incidents and disasters.

   e) TSA shall ensure that the security of information is maintained
      when the responsibility for TSA functions has been outsourced to
      another organization or entity.

7.4.2.  Asset Classification and Management

   The TSA shall ensure that its information and other assets receive an
   appropriate level of protection.

   In particular:

    - The TSA shall maintain an inventory of all assets and shall assign
      a classification for the protection requirements to those assets
      consistent with the risk analysis.







Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 21]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


7.4.3.  Personnel Security

   The TSA shall ensure that personnel and hiring practices enhance and
   support the trustworthiness of the TSA's operations.

   In particular (TSA general):

   a) The TSA shall employ personnel which possess the expert knowledge,
      experience and qualifications necessary for the offered services
      and as appropriate to the job function.

      NOTE 1: TSA personnel should be able to fulfill the requirement of
      "expert knowledge, experience and qualifications" through formal
      training and credentials, actual experience, or a combination of
      the two.

      NOTE 2: Personnel employed by a TSA include individual personnel
      contractually engaged in performing functions in support of the
      TSA's time-stamping services.  Personnel who may be involved in
      monitoring the TSA services need not be TSA personnel.

   b) Security roles and responsibilities, as specified in the TSA's
      security policy, shall be documented in job descriptions.  Trusted
      roles, on which the security of the TSA's operation is dependent,
      shall be clearly identified.

   c) TSA personnel (both temporary and permanent) shall have job
      descriptions defined from the view point of separation of duties
      and least privilege, determining position sensitivity based on the
      duties and access levels, background screening and employee
      training and awareness.  Where appropriate, these shall
      differentiate between general functions and TSA specific
      functions.  These should include skills and experience
      requirements.

   d) Personnel shall exercise administrative and management procedures
      and processes that are in line with the TSA's information security
      management procedures (see section 7.4.1).

      NOTE 3: See ISO/IEC 17799 [ISO 17799] for guidance.

      The following additional controls shall be applied to time-
      stamping management:

   e) Managerial personnel shall be employed who possess:

      - knowledge of time-stamping technology; and
      - knowledge of digital signature technology; and



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 22]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


      - knowledge of mechanisms for calibration or synchronization the
        TSU clocks with UTC; and
      - familiarity with security procedures for personnel with security
        responsibilities; and
      - experience with information security and risk assessment.

   f) All TSA personnel in trusted roles shall be free from conflict of
      interest that might prejudice the impartiality of the TSA
      operations.

   g) Trusted roles include roles that involve the following
      responsibilities:

      -  Security Officers: Overall responsibility for administering the
         implementation of the security practices.

      -  System Administrators: Authorized to install, configure and
         maintain the TSA trustworthy systems for time-stamping
         management.

      -  System Operators: Responsible for operating the TSA trustworthy
         systems on a day-to-day basis.  Authorized to perform system
         backup and recovery.

      -  System Auditors: Authorized to view archives and audit logs of
         the TSA trustworthy systems.

   h) TSA personnel shall be formally appointed to trusted roles by
      senior management responsible for security.

   i) The TSA shall not appoint to trusted roles or management any
      person who is known to have a conviction for a serious crime or
      other offense which affects his/her suitability for the position.
      Personnel shall not have access to the trusted functions until any
      necessary checks are completed.

      NOTE 4: In some countries it may not be possible for TSA to obtain
      information on past convictions without the collaboration of the
      candidate employee.

7.4.4.  Physical and Environmental Security

   The TSA shall ensure that physical access to critical services is
   controlled and physical risks to its assets minimized.







Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 23]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   In particular (general):

   a) For both the time-stamping provision and the time-stamping
      management:

      -  physical access to facilities concerned with time-stamping
         services shall be limited to properly authorized individuals;
      -  controls shall be implemented to avoid loss, damage or
         compromise of assets and interruption to business activities;
         and
      -  controls shall be implemented to avoid compromise or theft of
         information and information processing facilities.

   b) Access controls shall be applied to the cryptographic module to
      meet the requirements of security of cryptographic modules as
      identified in clauses 7.2.1 and 7.2.2.

   c) The following additional controls shall be applied to time-
      stamping management:

      -  The time-stamping management facilities shall be operated in an
         environment which physically protects the services from
         compromise through unauthorized access to systems or data.

      -  Physical protection shall be achieved through the creation of
         clearly defined security perimeters (i.e., physical barriers)
         around the time-stamping management.  Any parts of the premises
         shared with other organizations shall be outside this
         perimeter.

      -  Physical and environmental security controls shall be
         implemented to protect the facility that houses system
         resources, the system resources themselves, and the facilities
         used to support their operation.  The TSA's physical and
         environmental security policy for systems concerned with time-
         stamping management shall address as a minimum the physical
         access control, natural disaster protection, fire safety
         factors, failure of supporting utilities (e.g., power,
         telecommunications), structure collapse, plumbing leaks,
         protection against theft, breaking and entering, and disaster
         recovery.

      -  Controls shall be implemented to protect against equipment,
         information, media and software relating to the time-stamping
         services being taken off-site without authorization.

      NOTE 1: See ISO/IEC 17799 [ISO 17799] for guidance on physical and
      environmental security.



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 24]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


      NOTE 2: Other functions may be supported within the same secured
      area provided that the access is limited to authorized personnel.

7.4.5.  Operations Management

   The TSA shall ensure that the TSA system components are secure and
   correctly operated, with minimal risk of failure:

   In particular (general):

   a) The integrity of TSA system components and information shall be
      protected against viruses, malicious and unauthorized software.

   b) Incident reporting and response procedures shall be employed in
      such a way that damage from security incidents and malfunctions
      shall be minimized.

   c) Media used within the TSA trustworthy systems shall be securely
      handled to protect media from damage, theft, unauthorized access
      and obsolescence.

      NOTE 1: Every member of personnel with management responsibilities
      is responsible for planning and effectively implementing the
      time-stamp policy and associated practices as documented in the
      TSA practice statement.

   d) Procedures shall be established and implemented for all trusted
      and administrative roles that impact on the provision of time-
      stamping services.

   Media handling and security

   e) All media shall be handled securely in accordance with
      requirements of the information classification scheme (see section
      7.4.2).  Media containing sensitive data shall be securely
      disposed of when no longer required.

   System Planning

   f) Capacity demands shall be monitored and projections of future
      capacity requirements made to ensure that adequate processing
      power and storage are available.









Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 25]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   Incident reporting and response

   g) The TSA shall act in a timely and coordinated manner in order to
      respond quickly to incidents and to limit the impact of breaches
      of security.  All incidents shall be reported as soon as possible
      after the incident.

   The following additional controls shall be applied to time-stamping
   management:

   Operations procedures and responsibilities

   h) TSA security operations shall be separated from other operations.

      NOTE 2: TSA security operations' responsibilities include:

         -  operational procedures and responsibilities;
         -  secure systems planning and acceptance;
         -  protection from malicious software;
         -  housekeeping;
         -  network management;
         -  active monitoring of audit journals, event analysis and
            follow-up;
         -  media handling and security;
         -  data and software exchange.

   These operations shall be managed by TSA trusted personnel, but, may
   actually be performed by, non-specialist, operational personnel
   (under supervision), as defined within the appropriate security
   policy, and, roles and responsibility documents.

7.4.6.  System Access Management

   The TSA shall ensure that TSA system access is limited to properly
   authorized individuals.

   In particular (general):

   a) Controls (e.g., firewalls) shall be implemented to protect the
      TSA's internal network domains from unauthorized access including
      access by subscribers and third parties.

      NOTE 1: Firewalls should also be configured to prevent all
      protocols and accesses not required for the operation of the TSA.







Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 26]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   b) The TSA shall ensure effective administration of user (this
      includes operators, administrators and auditors) access to
      maintain system security, including user account management,
      auditing and timely modification or removal of access.

   c) The TSA shall ensure that access to information and application
      system functions is restricted in accordance with the access
      control policy and that the TSA system provides sufficient
      computer security controls for the separation of trusted roles
      identified in TSA's practices, including the separation of
      security administrator and operation functions.  Particularly, use
      of system utility programs is restricted and tightly controlled.

   d) TSA personnel shall be properly identified and authenticated
      before using critical applications related to time-stamping.

   e) TSA personnel shall be accountable for their activities, for
      example by retaining event logs (see section 7.4.10).

   The following additional controls shall be applied to time-stamping
   management:

   f) The TSA shall ensure that local network components (e.g., routers)
   are kept in a physically secure environment and that their
   configurations are periodically audited for compliance with the
   requirements specified by the TSA.

   g) Continuous monitoring and alarm facilities shall be provided to
   enable the TSA to detect, register and react in a timely manner upon
   any unauthorized and/or irregular attempts to access its resources.

   NOTE 2: This may use, for example, an intrusion detection system,
   access control monitoring and alarm facilities.

7.4.7.  Trustworthy Systems Deployment and Maintenance

   The TSA shall use trustworthy systems and products that are protected
   against modification.

   NOTE: The risk analysis carried out on the TSA's services (see
   section 7.1.1) should identify its critical services requiring
   trustworthy systems and the levels of assurance required.









Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 27]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   In particular:

   a) An analysis of security requirements shall be carried out at the
      design and requirements specification stage of any systems
      development project undertaken by the TSA or on behalf of the TSA
      to ensure that security is built into IT systems.

   b) Change control procedures shall be applied for releases,
      modifications and emergency software fixes of any operational
      software.

7.4.8.  Compromise of TSA Services

   The TSA shall ensure in the case of events which affect the security
   of the TSA's services, including compromise of TSU's private signing
   keys or detected loss of calibration, that relevant information is
   made available to subscribers and relying parties.

   In particular:

   a) The TSA's disaster recovery plan shall address the compromise or
      suspected compromise of TSU's private signing keys or loss of
      calibration of a TSU clock, which may have affected time-stamp
      tokens which have been issued.

   b) In the case of a compromise, or suspected compromise or loss of
      calibration the TSA shall make available to all subscribers and
      relying parties a description of compromise that occurred.

   c) In the case of compromise to a TSU's operation (e.g., TSU key
      compromise), suspected compromise or loss of calibration the TSU
      shall not issue time-stamp tokens until steps are taken to recover
      from the compromise

   d) In case of major compromise of the TSA's operation or loss of
      calibration, wherever possible, the TSA shall make available to
      all subscribers and relying parties information which may be used
      to identify the time-stamp tokens which may have been affected,
      unless this breaches the privacy of the TSAs users or the security
      of the TSA services.

      NOTE:  In case the private key does become compromised, an audit
      trail of all tokens generated by the TSA may provide a means to
      discriminate between genuine and false backdated tokens.  Two
      time-stamp tokens from two different TSAs may be another way to
      address this issue.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 28]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


7.4.9.  TSA Termination

   The TSA shall ensure that potential disruptions to subscribers and
   relying parties are minimized as a result of the cessation of the
   TSA's time-stamping services, and in particular ensure continued
   maintenance of information required to verify the correctness of
   time-stamp tokens.

   In particular:

   a) Before the TSA terminates its time-stamping services the following
      procedures shall be executed as a minimum:

      -  the TSA shall make available to all subscribers and relying
         parties information concerning its termination;

      -  TSA shall terminate authorization of all subcontractors to act
         on behalf of the TSA in carrying out any functions relating to
         the process of issuing time-stamp tokens;

      -  the TSA shall transfer obligations to a reliable party for
         maintaining event log and audit archives (see section 7.4.10)
         necessary to demonstrate the correct operation of the TSA for a
         reasonable period;

      -  the TSA shall maintain or transfer to a reliable party its
         obligations to make available its public key or its
         certificates to relying parties for a reasonable period;

      -  TSU private keys, including backup copies, shall be destroyed
         in a manner such that the private keys cannot be retrieved.

   b) The TSA shall have an arrangement to cover the costs to fulfill
      these minimum requirements in case the TSA becomes bankrupt or for
      other reasons is unable to cover the costs by itself.

   c) The TSA shall state in its practices the provisions made for
      termination of service.  This shall include:

      - notification of affected entities;
      - transferring the TSA obligations to other parties.

   d) The TSA shall take steps to have the TSU's certificates revoked.

7.4.10.  Compliance with Legal Requirements

   The TSA shall ensure compliance with legal requirements.




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 29]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   In particular:

   a) The TSA shall ensure that the requirements of the European data
      protection Directive [Dir 95/46/EC], as implemented through
      national legislation, are met.

   b) Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be taken
      against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and
      against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal
      data.

   c) The information contributed by users to the TSA shall be
      completely protected from disclosure unless with their agreement
      or by court order or other legal requirement.

7.4.11.  Recording of Information Concerning Operation of Time-Stamping
         Services

   The TSA shall ensure that all relevant information concerning the
   operation of time-stamping services is recorded for a defined period
   of time, in particular for the purpose of providing evidence for the
   purposes of legal proceedings.

   In particular:

   General

   a) The specific events and data to be logged shall be documented by
      the TSA.

   b) The confidentiality and integrity of current and archived records
      concerning operation of time-stamping services shall be
      maintained.

   c) Records concerning the operation of time-stamping services shall
      be completely and confidentially archived in accordance with
      disclosed business practices.

   d) Records concerning the operation of time-stamping services shall
      be made available if required for the purposes of providing
      evidence of the correct operation of the time-stamping services
      for the purpose of legal proceedings.

   e) The precise time of significant TSA environmental, key management
      and clock synchronization events shall be recorded.

   f) Records concerning time-stamping services shall be held for a
      period of time after the expiration of the validity of the TSU's



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 30]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


      signing keys as appropriate for providing necessary legal evidence
      and as notified in the TSA disclosure statement (see section
      7.1.2).

   g) The events shall be logged in a way that they cannot be easily
      deleted or destroyed (except if reliably transferred to long-term
      media) within the period of time that they are required to be
      held.

      NOTE: This may be achieved, for example, through the use of
      write-only media, a record of each removable media used and the
      use of off-site backup.

   h) Any information recorded about subscribers shall be kept
      confidential except as where agreement is obtained from the
      subscriber for its wider publication.

   TSU key management

   i) Records concerning all events relating to the life-cycle of TSU
      keys shall be logged.

   j) Records concerning all events relating to the life-cycle of TSU
      certificates (if appropriate) shall be logged.

   Clock Synchronization

   k) Records concerning all events relating to synchronization of a
      TSU's clock to UTC shall be logged.  This shall include
      information concerning normal re-calibration or synchronization of
      clocks use in time-stamping.

   l) Records concerning all events relating to detection of loss of
      synchronization shall be logged.

7.5.  Organizational

   The TSA shall ensure that its organization is reliable.

   In particular that:

   a) Policies and procedures under which the TSA operates shall be
      non-discriminatory.

   b) The TSA shall make its services accessible to all applicants whose
      activities fall within its declared field of operation and that
      agree to abide by their obligations as specified in the TSA
      disclosure statement.



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 31]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   c) The TSA is a legal entity according to national law.

   d) The TSA has a system or systems for quality and information
      security management appropriate for the time-stamping services it
      is providing.

   e) The TSA has adequate arrangements to cover liabilities arising
      from its operations and/or activities.

   f) It has the financial stability and resources required to operate
      in conformity with this policy.

      NOTE 1: This includes requirements for TSA termination identified
      in section 7.4.9.

   g) It employs a sufficient number of personnel having the necessary
      education, training, technical knowledge and experience relating
      to the type, range and volume of work necessary to provide time-
      stamping services.

      NOTE 2: Personnel employed by a TSA include individual personnel
      contractually engaged in performing functions in support of the
      TSA's time-stamping services.  Personnel who may be involved only
      in monitoring the TSA services need not be TSA personnel.

   h) It has policies and procedures for the resolution of complaints
      and disputes received from customers or other parties about the
      provisioning of the time-stamping services or any other related
      matters.

   i) It has a properly documented agreement and contractual
      relationship in place where the provisioning of services involves
      subcontracting, outsourcing or other third party arrangements.

8.  Security Considerations

   When verifying time-stamp tokens it is necessary for the verifier to
   ensure that the TSU certificate is trusted and not revoked.  This
   means that the security is dependent upon the security of the CA that
   has issued the TSU certificate for both issuing the certificate and
   providing accurate revocation status information for that
   certificate.

   When a time-stamp is verified as valid at a given point of time, this
   does not mean that it will necessarily remain valid later on.  Every
   time, a time-stamp token is verified during the validity period of
   the TSU certificate, it must be verified again against the current
   revocation status information, since in case of compromise of a TSU



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 32]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   private key, all the time-stamp tokens generated by that TSU become
   invalid.  Annex C provides guidance about the long term verification
   of time-stamp tokens.

   In applying time-stamping to applications, consideration also needs
   to be given to the security of the application.  In particular, when
   applying time-stamps it is necessary to ensure that the integrity of
   data is maintained before the time-stamp is applied.  The requester
   ought to really make sure that the hash value included in the time-
   stamp token matches with the hash of the data.

9.  Acknowledgments

   The development of this document was supported by ETSI and the
   European Commission.  Special thanks are due to Franco Ruggieri for
   his valuable inputs.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [RFC 2119]     Bradner, S. "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
                  Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [TF.460-5]     ITU-R Recommendation TF.460-5 (1997): Standard-
                  frequency and time-signal emissions.

   [TF.536-1]     ITU-R Recommendation TF.536-1 (1998): Time-scale
                  notations.

   [CWA 14167-2]  CEN Workshop Agreement 14167-2: Cryptographic Module
                  for CSP Signing Operations - Protection Profile
                  (MCSO-PP).

   [FIPS 140-1]   FIPS PUB 140-1 (1994): Security Requirements for
                  Cryptographic Modules.

   [ISO 15408]    ISO/IEC 15408 (1999) (parts 1 to 3): Information
                  technology - Security techniques and Evaluation
                  criteria for IT security.











Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 33]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


10.2.  Informative References

   [CWA 14172]    CEN Workshop Agreement 14172: EESSI Conformity
                  Assessment Guidance.

   [Dir 95/46/EC] Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of
                  the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of
                  individuals with regard to the processing of personal
                  data and on the free movement of such data.

   [Dir 99/93/EC] Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of
                  the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community
                  framework for electronic signatures.

   [ISO 17799]    ISO/IEC 17799: Information technology Code of practice
                  for information security management

   [RFC 3126]     Pinkas, D., Ross, J. and N. Pope, "Electronic
                  Signature Formats for long term electronic
                  signatures", RFC 3126, September 2001.

   [RFC 3161]     Adams, C., Cain, P., Pinkas, D. and R. Zuccherato,
                  "Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Time-Stamp
                  Protocol (TSP)", RFC 3161, August 2001.

   [TS 101733]    ETSI Technical Specification TS 101 733 V.1.2.2
                  (2000-12) Electronic Signature Formats.  Note: copies
                  of ETSI TS 101 733 can be freely downloaded from the
                  ETSI web site www.etsi.org.

   [TS 101861]    ETSI Technical Specification TS 101 861 V1.2.1.
                  (2001-11).  Time stamping profile.  Note: copies of
                  ETSI TS 101 861 can be freely downloaded from the ETSI
                  web site www.etsi.org.

   [TS 102023]    ETSI Technical Specification TS 102 023.  Policy
                  requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities.  Note:
                  copies of ETSI TS 102 023 can be freely downloaded
                  from the ETSI web site www.etsi.org.

   [X.208]        CCITT Recommendation X.208: Specification of Abstract
                  Syntax Notation One (ASN.1), 1988.









Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 34]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


Annex A (informative): Coordinated Universal Time

   Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the international time standard
   that became effective on January 1, 1972.  UTC has superseded
   Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but in practice they are never more than 1
   second different.  Hence many people continue to refer to GMT when in
   fact they operate to UTC.

   Zero (0) hours UTC is midnight in Greenwich, England, which lies on
   the zero longitudinal meridian.  Universal time is based on a 24 hour
   clock, therefore, afternoon hours such as 4 pm UTC are expressed as
   16:00 UTC (sixteen hours, zero minutes).

   International Atomic Time (TAI) is calculated by the Bureau
   International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) from the readings of more
   than 200 atomic clocks located in metrology institutes and
   observatories in more than 30 countries around the world.
   Information on TAI is made available every month in the BIPM Circular
   T (ftp://62.161.69.5/pub/tai/publication).  It is that TAI does not
   lose or gain with respect to an imaginary perfect clock by more than
   about one tenth of a microsecond (0.0000001 second) per year.

   Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): Time scale, based on the second, as
   defined and recommended by the International Telecommunications Radio
   Committee (ITU-R), and maintained by the Bureau International des
   Poids et Mesures (BIPM).  The maintenance by BIPM includes
   cooperation among various national laboratories around the world.
   The full definition of UTC is contained in ITU-R Recommendation
   TF.460-4.

   Atomic Time, with the unit of duration the Systeme International (SI)
   second defined as the duration of 9 192 631 770 cycles of radiation,
   corresponds to the transition between two hyperfine levels of the
   ground state of caesium 133.  TAI is the International Atomic Time
   scale, a statistical timescale based on a large number of atomic
   clocks.

   Universal Time (UT) is counted from 0 hours at midnight, with unit of
   duration the mean solar day, defined to be as uniform as possible
   despite variations in the rotation of the Earth.

      -  UT0 is the rotational time of a particular place of
         observation. It is observed as the diurnal motion of stars or
         extraterrestrial radio sources.

      -  UT1 is computed by correcting UT0 for the effect of polar
         motion on the longitude of the observing site.  It varies from
         uniformity because of the irregularities in the Earth's



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 35]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


         rotation. UT1, is based on the somewhat irregular rotation of
         the Earth. Rotational irregularities usually result in a net
         decrease in the Earth's average rotational velocity, and
         ensuing lags of UT1 with respect to UTC.

   Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the basis for international
   time-keeping and follows TAI exactly except for an integral number of
   seconds, 32 in year 2001.  These leap seconds are inserted on the
   advice of the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS)
   (http://hpiers.obspm.fr/) to ensure that, having taken into account
   irregularities, the Sun is overhead within 0,9 seconds of 12:00:00
   UTC on the meridian of Greenwich.  UTC is thus the modern successor
   of Greenwich Mean Time, GMT, which was used when the unit of time was
   the mean solar day.

   Adjustments to the atomic, i.e., UTC, time scale consist of an
   occasional addition or deletion of one full second, which is called a
   leap second.  Twice yearly, during the last minute of the day of June
   30 and December 31, Universal Time, adjustments may be made to ensure
   that the accumulated difference between UTC and UT1 will not exceed
   0,9 s before the next scheduled adjustment.  Historically,
   adjustments, when necessary, have usually consisted of adding an
   extra second to the UTC time scale in order to allow the rotation of
   the Earth to "catch up". Therefore, the last minute of the UTC time
   scale, on the day when an adjustment is made, will have 61 seconds.
   Adjustments dates are typically announced several months in advance
   in IERS Bulletin C:
   ftp://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat.

   Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) differs thus from TAI by an integral
   number of seconds.  UTC is kept within 0,9 s of UT1 by the
   introduction of one-second steps to UTC, the "leap second".  To date
   these steps have always been positive.

Annex B (informative): Possible for Implementation Architectures
        and Time-Stamping Services

B.1.  Managed Time-Stamping Service

   Some organizations may be willing to host one or more Time-Stamping
   Units in order to take advantage of both the proximity and the
   quality of the Time-Stamping Service, without being responsible for
   the installation, operation and management of these Time-Stamping
   Units.







Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 36]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   This can be achieved by using units that are installed in the
   premises from the hosting organization and then remotely managed by a
   Time-Stamping Authority that takes the overall responsibility of the
   quality of the service delivered to the hosting organization.

  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  +                                                                   +
  +                      Time-Stamping Authority                      +
  +_____________              _____________              _____________+
 |+ __________  |            |             |            |  __________ +|
 |+|          | |            |    Time -   |            | |          |+|
 |+|   Time - |<-------------|   Stamping  |------------->|   Time - |+|
 |+| Stamping | | Install.   |  Management | Install.   | | Stamping |+|
 |+|   Unit   | | Management |             | Management | |   Unit   |+|
 |+|__________| |            |_____________|            | |__________|+|
 |+             |                                       |             +|
 |+             |                                       |             +|
 |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
 |   Hosting    |                                       |   Hosting    |
 | Organization |                                       | Organization |
 |______________|                                       |______________|

               Figure B.1: Managed Time-stamping Service

   The requirements for time-stamping services described in the current
   document includes requirements on both the time-stamping management
   and for the operation of the unit which issues the time-stamp tokens.
   The TSA, as identified in the time-stamp token, has the
   responsibility to ensure that these requirements are met (for example
   through contractual obligations).

   It should be clear that the hosting organization will generally want
   to be able to monitor the use of the service and, at a minimum, know
   whether the service is working or not and even be able to measure the
   performances of the service, e.g., the number of time-stamps
   generated during some period of time.  Such monitoring can be
   considered to be outside of TSA's time-stamping authority.

   Therefore the description of the management operation described in
   the main body of the document is not limitative.  Monitoring
   operations, if performed directly on the unit, may be permitted by
   the Time-Stamping service provider.









Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 37]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


B.2.  Selective Alternative Quality

   Some relying parties may be willing to take advantage of particular
   characteristics from a time-stamp token such as a specific signature
   algorithm and/or key length or a specific accuracy for the time
   contained in the time stamp token.  These parameters can be
   considered as specifying a "quality" for the time stamp token.

   Time stamp tokens with various qualities may be issued by different
   time-stamping units operated by the same or different TSAs.

   A particular time-stamping unit will only provide one combination of
   algorithm and key length (since a time-stamping unit is a set of
   hardware and software which is managed as a unit and has a single
   time-stamp token signing key).  In order to obtain different
   combinations of algorithm and key length, different time-stamping
   units shall be used.

   A particular time-stamping unit may provide a fixed accuracy for the
   time contained in the time stamp token or different accuracy if
   instructed to do so either by using a specific mode of access (e.g.,
   e-mail or http) or by using specific parameters in the request.

Annex C (informative): Long Term Verification of Time-Stamp Tokens

   Usually, a time-stamp token becomes unverifiable beyond the end of
   the validity period of the certificate from the TSU, because the CA
   that has issued the certificate does not warrant any more that it
   will publish revocation data, including data about revocations due to
   key compromises.  However, verification of a time-stamp token might
   still be performed beyond the end of the validity period of the
   certificate from the TSU, if, at the time of verification, it can be
   known that:

      - the TSU private key has not been compromised at any time up to
        the time that a relying part verifies a time-stamp token;

      - the hash algorithms used in the time-stamp token exhibits no
        collisions at the time of verification;

      - the signature algorithm and signature key size under which the
        time-stamp token has been signed is still beyond the reach of
        cryptographic attacks at the time of verification.

   If these conditions cannot be met, then the validity may be
   maintained by applying an additional time-stamp to protect the
   integrity of the previous one.




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 38]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   The present document does not specify the details of how such
   protection may be obtained.  For the time being, and until some
   enhancements are defined to support these features, the information
   may be obtained using-out-of bands means or alternatively in the
   context of closed environments.  As an example, should a CA guaranty
   to maintain the revocation status of TSU certificates after the end
   of its validity period, this would fulfill the first requirement.

   NOTE 1: An alternative to Time-Stamping is for a Trusted Service
   Provider to record a representation of a datum bound to a particular
   time in an audit trail, thus establishing evidence that the datum
   existed before that time.  This technique, which is called Time-
   Marking, can be a valuable alternative for checking the long term
   validity of signatures.

   NOTE 2: The TSA or other trusted third party service provider may
   support the verification of time-stamp tokens.

Annex D (informative): Model TSA Disclosure Statement Structure.

   The TSA disclosure statement contains a section for each defined
   statement type.  Each section of a TSA disclosure statement contains
   a descriptive statement, which MAY include hyperlinks to the relevant
   certificate policy/certification practice statement sections.

   D.1.  STATEMENT TYPE: Entire agreement

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: A statement indicating that the
         disclosure statement is not the entire agreement, but only a
         part of it.

   D.2.  STATEMENT TYPE: TSA contact info

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: The name, location and relevant contact
         information for the TSA.

   D.3.  STATEMENT TYPE: time-stamp token types and usage

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: A description of each class/type of
         time-stamp tokens issued by the TSA (in accordance with each
         time-stamp policy) and any restrictions on time-stamp usage.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: Indication of the policy being applied,
         including the contexts for which the time-stamp token can be
         used (e.g., only for use with electronic signatures), the
         hashing algorithms, the expected life time of the time-stamp
         token signature, any limitations on the use of the time-stamp
         token and information on how to verify the time-stamp token.



Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 39]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   D.4.  STATEMENT TYPE: Reliance limits.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: reliance limits, if any.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: Indication of the accuracy of the time in
         the time-stamp token, and the period of time for which TSA
         event logs (see section 7.4.10) are maintained (and hence are
         available to provide supporting evidence).

   D.5.  STATEMENT TYPE: Obligations of subscribers.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: The description of, or reference to, the
         critical subscriber obligations.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: No specific requirements identified in
         the current document.  Where applicable the TSA may specify
         additional obligations.

   D.6.  STATEMENT TYPE: TSU public key status checking obligations of
         relying parties.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: The extent to which relying parties are
         obligated to check the TSU public key status, and references to
         further explanation.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: Information on how to validate the TSU
         public key status, including requirements to check the
         revocation status of TSU public key, such that the relying
         party is considered to "reasonably rely" on the time-stamp
         token (see section 6.3).

   D.7.  STATEMENT TYPE: Limited warranty and disclaimer/Limitation of
         liability.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: Summary of the warranty, disclaimers,
         limitations of liability and any applicable warranty or
         insurance programs

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: Limitations of liability (see section
         6.4).

   D.8.  STATEMENT TYPE: Applicable agreements and practice statement.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: Identification and references to
         applicable agreements, practice statement, time-stamp policy
         and other relevant documents.





Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 40]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


   D.9.  STATEMENT TYPE: Privacy policy.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: A description of and reference to the
         applicable privacy policy.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: Note: TSA's under this policy are
         required to comply with the requirements of Data Protection
         Legislation.

   D.10. STATEMENT TYPE: Refund policy

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: A description of and reference to the
         applicable refund policy.

   D.11. STATEMENT TYPE: Applicable law, complaints and dispute
         resolution mechanisms.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: Statement of the choice of law,
         complaints procedure and dispute resolution mechanisms.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: The procedures for complaints and dispute
         settlements.  The applicable legal system.

   D.12. STATEMENT TYPE: TSA and repository licenses, trust marks, and
         audit.

         STATEMENT DESCRIPTION: Summary of any governmental licenses,
         seal programs; and a description of the audit process and if
         applicable the audit firm.

         SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: If the TSA has been assessed to be
         conformant with the identified time-stamp policy, and if so
         through which independent party.


















Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 41]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


Authors' Addresses

   Denis Pinkas
   Bull
   Rue Jean Jaures,
   78340 Les Clayes CEDEX
   FRANCE

   EMail: Denis.Pinkas@bull.net

   Nick Pope
   Security & Standards
   192 Moulsham Street
   Chelmsford, Essex
   CM2 0LG
   United Kingdom

   EMail: pope@secstan.com

   John Ross
   Security & Standards
   192 Moulsham Street
   Chelmsford, Essex
   CM2 0LG
   United Kingdom

   EMail: ross@secstan.com

   This Informational RFC has been produced in ETSI ESI.

   ETSI
   F-06921 Sophia Antipolis, Cedex - FRANCE
   650 Route des Lucioles - Sophia Antipolis
   Valbonne - France
   Tel: +33 4 92 94 42 00  Fax: +33 4 93 65 47 16
   secretariat@etsi.fr
   http://www.etsi.org

   Contact Point

   Claire d'Esclercs
   ETSI
   650 Route des Lucioles
   F-06921 Sophia Antipolis, Cedex
   FRANCE

   EMail: claire.desclercs@etsi.org




Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 42]
^L
RFC 3628       Requirements for Time-Stamping Authorities  November 2003


Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assignees.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















Pinkas, et al.               Informational                     [Page 43]
^L