Higher Education Bridge Certificate Authority (HEBCA) Project Progress Fed/Ed June 2005

2 HEBCA Project What is it? –The HEBCA Project being undertaken by Dartmouth College includes all activities related to the instantiation and operation of a production-level Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Bridge Certificate Authority for the Higher Education community.

3 HEBCA Project What’s been done in last 6 months? –Policy Authority formed –A slew of documents (required for Audit sign-off prior to production roll out) have been drafted Certificate Practices Statement Certificate Profiles Interoperability Guidelines Criteria and Methods Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan Base Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) –HEBCA Test infrastructure instantiated at Dartmouth –HEBCA Test cross-certified with the Prototype FBCA

4 HEBCA Project What’s been done in last 6 months? –Establishment of the HEBCA.ORG domain –Auditors for pre-operational compliance engaged –Technical Interoperability completed with FBCA –HEBCA Production infrastructure completed (imminent deployment) AirGap solution constructed & operational –HEBCA/USHER Synergies project proposed, accepted and under way –Presentations on HEBCA concepts, progress, and related projects or participation in panel discussions at 5 different industry conferences / workshops –Participation in industry workgroups ( Path-Val, I-CIDM, FBCA CPWG, HEBCA PAWG, OSG TG-Sec, TAGPMA, HEPKI-TAG, IIWG)

5 HEBCA Project Issues Encountered and Solutions Implemented –Discovery of a vulnerability in the protocol for indirect CRLs Will now use Issuing CA to sign CRLs –How to construct a high availability online service based on an offline infrastructure (to mitigate risk) all on a shoestring budget Our AirGap Solution was constructed for under $100 in parts –FBCA requirement for US citizenship of “trusted roles” personnel prior to cross-certification Participation in industry collaborative process which appears to have generated a workable solution

6 HEBCA Project What’s on the Radar? –Production HEBCA infrastructure deployment –Creation of the HEBCA keys –CPS to CP Audit –Operational Processes and Procedures Audit –HEBCA is live –Cross-certification with UVA –Cross-certification with Dartmouth College –Cross-certification with FBCA –USHER deployment –USHER cross-certification

7 HEBCA Project Other Projects in the mix –USHER infrastructure instantiation –Dartmouth PKI token roll-out –NIH-EDUCAUSE PKI Interoperability Pilot Digitally Signed XML Forms –PESC Standard based Transcripts –SF-424 Grant Applications –ED1049 Eligible Institutions –HHS grappling with PKI on the Apple platform –GRID Computing –Lionshare –SHIB/eAUTH –Security in Mobile Wireless Networks

8 For More Information Dartmouth PKI Summit –July on Dartmouth College Campus, Hanover, NH –Website:

9 For More Information HEBCA Website: Scott Rea - Steve Worona -