1. Executive Summary (original) (raw)

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
1. Executive Summary

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1. Executive Summary

This is one of a series of documents defining privacy enhancement mechanisms for electronic mail transferred using Internet mail protocols. RFC 1421 [6] prescribes protocol extensions and processing procedures for RFC-822 mail messages, given that suitable cryptographic keys are held by originators and recipients as a necessary precondition. RFC 1423 [7] specifies algorithms, modes and associated identifiers for use in processing privacy-enhanced messages, as called for in RFC 1421 and this document. This document defines a supporting key management architecture and infrastructure, based on public-key certificate techniques, to provide keying information to message originators and recipients. RFC 1424 [8] provides additional specifications for services in conjunction with the key management infrastructure described herein.

The key management architecture described in this document is compatible with the authentication framework described in CCITT 1988 X.509 [2]. This document goes beyond X.509 by establishing procedures and conventions for a key management infrastructure for use with Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) and with other protocols, from both the TCP/IP and OSI suites, in the future. There are several motivations for establishing these procedures and conventions (as opposed to relying only on the very general framework outlined in X.509):

It is important that a certificate management infrastructure for use in the Internet community accommodate a range of clearly-articulated certification policies for both users and organizations in a well-architected fashion. Mechanisms must be provided to enable each user to be aware of the policies governing any certificate which the user may encounter. This requires the introduction and standardization of procedures and conventions that are outside the scope of X.509.
The procedures for authenticating originators and recipient in the course of message submission and delivery should be simple, automated and uniform despite the existence of differing certificate management policies. For example, users should not have to engage in careful examination of a complex set of certification relationships in order to evaluate the credibility of a claimed identity.
The authentication framework defined by X.509 is designed to operate in the X.500 directory server environment. However X.500 directory servers are not expected to be ubiquitous in the Internet in the near future, so some conventions are adopted to facilitate operation of the key management infrastructure in the near term.
Public key cryptosystems are central to the authentication technology of X.509 and those which enjoy the most widespread use are patented in the U.S. Although this certification management scheme is compatible with the use of different digital signature algorithms, it is anticipated that the RSA cryptosystem will be used as the primary signature algorithm in establishing the Internet certification hierarchy. Special license arrangements have been made to facilitate the use of this algorithm in the U.S. portion of Internet environment.

The infrastructure specified in this document establishes a single root for all certification within the Internet, the Internet Policy Registration Authority (IPRA). The IPRA establishes global policies, described in this document, which apply to all certification effected under this hierarchy. Beneath IPRA root are Policy Certification Authorities (PCAs), each of which establishes and publishes (in the form of an informational RFC) its policies for registration of users or organizations. Each PCA is certified by the IPRA. (It is desirable that there be a relatively small number of PCAs, each with a substantively different policy, to facilitate user familiarity with the set of PCA policies. However there is no explicit requirement that the set of PCAs be limited in this fashion.) Below PCAs, Certification Authorities (CAs) will be established to certify users and subordinate organizational entities (e.g., departments, offices, subsidiaries, etc.). Initially, we expect the majority of users will be registered via organizational affiliation, consistent with current practices for how most user mailboxes are provided. In this sense the registration is analogous to the issuance of a university or company ID card.

Some CAs are expected to provide certification for residential users in support of users who wish to register independent of any organizational affiliation. Over time, we anticipate that civil government entities which already provide analogous identification services in other contexts, e.g., driver's licenses, may provide this service. For users who wish anonymity while taking advantage of PEM privacy facilities, one or more PCAs will be established with policies that allow for registration of users, under subordinate CAs, who do not wish to disclose their identities.

Next: 2. Overview of Approach

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
1. Executive Summary