X.509 certs that don't guarantee identity
On the 23rd, Jeff Weinstein said this concerning the natural semi-anonymity of the net:
Given that verisign and others will soon begin issuing large numbers of certificates that do not guarantee the identity of the key holder, it seems that this tradition will continue even with the wide deployment of X509 certs.
This has been bugging me since I read it. I'm not sure I understand the plan; it only makes sense to me if "anonymous" X.509 certs are issued for user authentication only, not for server authentication. Is that what this is about? (If anonymous certs are issued for servers, why should such a cert be treated any differently than one I generate on my own, which causes warning screens about an unknown CA to pop up?)
On Sun, 25 Feb 1996 22:48:51 -0600 (CST), you wrote:
On the 23rd, Jeff Weinstein said this concerning the natural semi-anonymity of the net:
Given that verisign and others will soon begin issuing large numbers of certificates that do not guarantee the identity of the key holder, it seems that this tradition will continue even with the wide deployment of X509 certs.
This has been bugging me since I read it. I'm not sure I understand the plan; it only makes sense to me if "anonymous" X.509 certs are issued for user authentication only, not for server authentication. Is that what this is about?
(If anonymous certs are issued for servers, why should such a cert be treated any differently than one I generate on my own, which causes warning screens about an unknown CA to pop up?)
Verisign will offer a number of levels of certificates. The certificate that Jeff refered to requires only a unique email address and is available for free. For obvious reasons you should not trust theses keys for credit card information or anything else that you feel is confidential. This is why Navigator allows you configure what keys you accept as well as what certifications you will accept. Dan Weinstein djw@vplus.com http://www.vplus.com/~djw PGP public key is available from my Home Page. All opinions expressed above are mine. "I understand by 'freedom of Spirit' something quite definite - the unconditional will to say No, where it is dangerous to say No. Friedrich Nietzsche
Alex Strasheim wrote:
On the 23rd, Jeff Weinstein said this concerning the natural semi-anonymity of the net:
Given that verisign and others will soon begin issuing large numbers of certificates that do not guarantee the identity of the key holder, it seems that this tradition will continue even with the wide deployment of X509 certs.
This has been bugging me since I read it. I'm not sure I understand the plan; it only makes sense to me if "anonymous" X.509 certs are issued for user authentication only, not for server authentication. Is that what this is about?
(If anonymous certs are issued for servers, why should such a cert be treated any differently than one I generate on my own, which causes warning screens about an unknown CA to pop up?)
The navigator will not be configured to automatically trust the verisign level 1 and 2 certificates for SSL servers. You will get the same warning dialog with these certs as you do with one you generate on your own. --Jeff -- Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist Netscape Communication Corporation jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw Any opinions expressed above are mine.
Michael A. Atzet wrote:
Jeff Weinstein wrote:
The navigator will not be configured to automatically trust the verisign level 1 and 2 certificates for SSL servers. You will get the same warning dialog with these certs as you do with one you generate on your own.
How will Navigator differentiate between the different level certs? I am not aware of any fields in the cert itself that designate what level it is. I know that the subject info would "look" different for a persons name vs. email address vs commom name.
The different levels of certificate are signed by different CA certs. -- Sure we spend a lot of money, but that doesn't mean | Tom Weinstein we *do* anything. -- Washington DC motto | tomw@netscape.com
Michael A. Atzet wrote:
How will Navigator differentiate between the different level certs? I am not aware of any fields in the cert itself that designate what level it is. I know that the subject info would "look" different for a persons name vs. email address vs commom name.
The navigator will not differentiate them. We build in a default set of CA certificates into the navigator, and then allow the user to modify them as they see fit based on their local trust policy. The default set of CAs that we ship with our product will not include the verisign level 1&2 CAs as trusted SSL Server CAs. --Jeff -- Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist Netscape Communication Corporation jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw Any opinions expressed above are mine.
Jeff Weinstein wrote:
Alex Strasheim wrote:
On the 23rd, Jeff Weinstein said this concerning the natural semi-anonymity of the net:
Given that verisign and others will soon begin issuing large numbers of certificates that do not guarantee the identity of the key holder, it seems that this tradition will continue even with the wide deployment of X509 certs.
This has been bugging me since I read it. I'm not sure I understand the plan; it only makes sense to me if "anonymous" X.509 certs are issued for user authentication only, not for server authentication. Is that what this is about?
(If anonymous certs are issued for servers, why should such a cert be treated any differently than one I generate on my own, which causes warning screens about an unknown CA to pop up?)
The navigator will not be configured to automatically trust the verisign level 1 and 2 certificates for SSL servers. You will get the same warning dialog with these certs as you do with one you generate on your own.
--Jeff
-- Jeff Weinstein - Electronic Munitions Specialist Netscape Communication Corporation jsw@netscape.com - http://home.netscape.com/people/jsw Any opinions expressed above are mine.
How will Navigator differentiate between the different level certs? I am not aware of any fields in the cert itself that designate what level it is. I know that the subject info would "look" different for a persons name vs. email address vs commom name. -- Michael A. Atzet IBM AIX Systems Center Roanoke, Texas *** All opinions above are mine and not necessarily that of IBM. *** atzet@vnet.ibm.com
The navigator will not differentiate them. We build in a default set of CA certificates into the navigator, and then allow the user to modify them as they see fit based on their local trust policy. The default set of CAs that we ship with our product will not include the verisign level 1&2 CAs as trusted SSL Server CAs.
With the level 1&2 CA certs be include but not enabled, or will users have to go pull them themselves? Bob
participants (6)
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Alex Strasheim -
Bob Snyder -
djw＠vplus.com -
Jeff Weinstein -
Michael A. Atzet -
Tom Weinstein