CA/Browser Forum Publishes Submissions
All responses that the CA/Browser Forum received from the call for position papers and statements of interest on organizational reform have been published to the Web site:
28 February 2012
CA/Browser Forum Announces Organizational Reform Working Group
The CA/Browser Forum is a voluntary organization of leading certification authorities (CAs) and vendors of Internet browser software and other applications.
At the twenty fifth face to face meeting of the CA/Browser Forum, held in Santa Clara, California, USA on February 22 and 23rd, 2012, the membership agreed to form a working group on organizational reform. The task of this group will be to develop and present to the full organization, by April 16th, proposals for a new charter and bylaws.
The CA/Browser Forum recognizes the growing importance of the PKI marketplace as a critical piece of Internet infrastructure, and the need to continue to safeguard and advance the public's trust in the Internet as a secure place for communication, socialization and commerce. The goal of the reform will be to evolve the organization into a more mature and capable, multi-stakeholder forum that can promote the growth and maintenance of the public PKI and certificate ecosystem in the interests of Internet security and the broader public good.
Key topics to be addressed by the special working group include:
- Formal incorporation of the Forum;
- A broader scope of action;
- Wider membership and participation in the Forum, including by certificate subscribers, relying parties, and users; and
- A more open and public process.
In support of this process, the special working group is soliciting short (no more than 750 words, please) position papers and statements of interest from organizations and individuals on these topics. We encourage stakeholders to submit their comments to questions@cabforum.org now through March 30, 2012. All submissions will be posted publicly on the CA/Browser Forum website. (www.cabforum.org)
14 December 2011
CA/Browser Forum Approves Baseline Requirements for SSL/TLS Certificates
First industry-wide standard for the issuance and management of SSL/TLS digital certificates
DOWNLOAD THE DOCUMENTThe CA/Browser Forum has released the "Baseline Requirements for the Issuance and Management of Publicly Trusted Certificates," the first international baseline standard for the operation of Certification Authorities (CAs) issuing SSL/TLS digital certificates natively trusted in browser software.
SSL/TLS digital certificates are used to authenticate the ownership of websites and other online resources, as well
as to encrypt information for privacy as it crosses the Internet and other networks.
"SSL/TLS certificates are a critical part of the Internet's security infrastructure, combining proven technical
standards with the capability to scale to handle millions of websites and the wide array of user software," said Tim
Moses, Chairman of the CA/Browser Forum. "The new Baseline Requirements will improve the reliability and
accountability of SSL/TLS issuance for relying parties by establishing baseline standards for all types of SSL/TLS
certificates from all publicly-trusted CAs."
The Baseline Requirements draw upon best practices from across the SSL/TLS sector to provide clear standards for
CAs on important subjects including verification of identity, certificate content and profiles, CA security, revocation
mechanisms, use of algorithms and key sizes, audit requirements, liability, privacy and confidentiality, and
delegation (including external sub-CAs and registration authorities).
The Baseline Requirements become effective on July 1, 2012 allowing CAs time to bring their SSL/TLS policies and
practices into compliance with the standard. The CA/B Forum intends to continue development of the Baseline
Requirements to address the evolving risks and threats involving the issuance or use of SSL/TLS certificates.
The CA/Browser Forum was formed in 2006 and previously created the "Extended Validation" (EV) standard for
SSL/TLS. EV was designed for banks and other high profile websites providing enhanced confirmation of the
legitimacy of a website and the identity of its owner, consistent across all EV-issuing CAs.
"With the Baseline Requirements, for the first time we will have a consistent international standard for the
issuance of all SSL/TLS, including the many variations of Domain Validation and Organisation Validation," said Eddy
Nigg of the StartCom CA. "This has been a multiyear effort involving more than 50 organisations including the
major browser suppliers and CAs from around the world, as well as representatives from the Internet standards
and audit/legal community along with major relying parties that use SSL/TLS."
Certification Authority members of the CA/Browser Forum range from the large multinational CAs to smaller
issuers focused on geographic regions or specific industries. Major CAs have already voiced their commitment to
implement the Baseline Requirements targeting the 2012 effective date. These include CA/Browser Forum
members Symantec, Go Daddy, Comodo, GlobalSign, DigiCert, Entrust, StartCom, TrustWave, QuoVadis, Certum,
T-Systems, Izenpe, and BuyPass representing more than 94% of all valid public SSL/TLS according to the
independent Netcraft survey.
The CA/Browser Forum has requested that internet browsers and operating systems adopt the Baseline
Requirements among their conditions to distribute CA root certificates in their software.
According to Kathleen Wilson of Mozilla, "Four years ago the CA/Browser Forum released the Extended Validation
guidelines that established consistent standards for identity validation. The Baseline Requirements provide a
foundation for best practices across the industry by defining a single, consolidated set of essential standards for all
SSL/TLS certificates for the first time."
The CA/B Forum has also requested that the major audit regimes used by CAs, WebTrust and ETSI, develop audit
criteria to assess compliance with the Baseline Requirements.