1. Using Personal Certificates Jeff D’Angelo Jeremy Hill Network of People, Jan 6, 2005

2. Our role Not a formal ITS or Penn State project –No support from ITS helpdesks We present this material today not as an authority but as peer Personal Certificate programs are global We are selfish – we want more points Our selfishness helps you

3. What types of certificates exist? Server Personal Code-signing Others (client, etc.)

4. How are certificates useful? Certificates are a means of placing trust in an unknown/unverified party Can validate authenticity of peer/server in SSL/TLS communication (HTTPS, etc) Can encrypt/sign email (S/MIME) Can sign (validate) documents (PDF) Can sign executable code Client Authentication (VPN, HTTP, etc)

5. Methods of assuring identity Single assurance from Certificate Authority PGP Web of Trust (WoT) model Hybrid CA + Web of Trust model

6. How hybrid model works Community based effort assuring identity of peers Web-based point system keeps track of assurances received and given No single point of assurance failure Single path to verify new certificates

7. Hybrid Web of Trust CAs Thawte –Trusted in most clients today –FREE for personal certificates CAcert –Server and Code-signing also FREE –Requires root certificate installation in most clients today

8. Getting started 1) Apply for account with Thawte (or CAcert) 2) Get points via assurances –At 50 points, your certificates are trusted –At 100 points, you become a WoT notary 3) Give assurances to help the community –The more you give, the more points you can give –Start at giving max 10 points and work towards 35 max

9. Assurance process Meet notary/assuror in person Provide proof(s) of identity matching account information (e.g., driver’s license #, passport #) Notary/assuror makes copy of id proofs Both sign a document attesting assurance Notary/assuror grants points to the assertion online Notary/assuror keeps documentation secure and may produce to CA if audited

10. Demos Jeff –Applying for Thawte Personal Certificates –Downloading certificate into email client –Signing, verifying email Jeremy –Installing certificate into Adobe PDF –Signing PDF documents

11. S/MIME E-Mail client support Mozilla Mail and derivatives (e.g., Thunderbird) – Good MS Outlook and Outlook Express – Good Eudora – Poor Pine – Poor Apple Mail – Decent

12. Conclusion Summary Q & A Thawte and CAcert assurances given during break

13. References Thawte Personal Certificates: http://thawte.com/email/ CAcert Personal Certificates: http://cacert.org/