Common Authentication Technology (cat) Charter


NOTE: This charter is accurate as of the 32nd IETF Meeting in Danvers. It may now be out-of-date. (Consider this a "snapshot" of the working group from that meeting.) Up-to-date charters for all active working groups can be found elsewhere in this Web server.

Chair(s)

Security Area Director(s):

Mailing List Information

Description of Working Group

The goal of the Common Authentication Technology Working Group is to provide strong authentication to a variety of protocol callers in a manner which insulates those callers from the specifics of underlying security mechanisms. By separating security implementation tasks from the tasks of integrating security data elements into caller protocols, those tasks can be partitioned and performed separately by implementors with different areas of expertise. This provides leverage for the IETF community's security-oriented resources, and allows protocol implementors to focus on the functions their protocols are designed to provide rather than on characteristics of security mechanisms. CAT seeks to encourage uniformity and modularity in security approaches, supporting the use of common techniques and accommodating evolution of underlying technologies.

In support of these goals, the working group will pursue several interrelated tasks. We will work towards agreement on a common service interface allowing callers to invoke security services, and towards agreement on a common authentication token format, incorporating means to identify the mechanism type in conjunction with which authentication data elements should be interpreted. The CAT Working Group will also work towards agreements on suitable underlying mechanisms to implement security functions; two candidate architectures (Kerberos V5, based on secret-key technology and contributed by MIT, and X.509-based public-key Distributed Authentication Services being prepared for contribution by DEC) are under current consideration. The CAT Working Group will consult with other IETF working groups responsible for candidate caller protocols, pursuing and supporting design refinements as appropriate.

Goals and Milestones

Done
Progress Internet-Draft and RFC publication of mechanism-level documents to support independent, interoperable implementations of CAT-supporting mechanisms.
Done
Preliminary BOF session at IETF meeting, discussions with TELNET and Network Printing Working Groups.
Done
Distribute Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSS-API) documentation through Internet-Draft process.
Done
First IETF meeting as full working group: review charter distribute documents, and status of related implementation, integration, and consulting liaison activities. Schedule follow-on tasks, including documentation plan for specific CAT-supporting security mechanisms.
Done
Update mechanism-independent Internet-Drafts in response to issues raised, distribute additional mechanism-specific documentation including Distributed Authentication Services architectural description and terms/conditions for use of the technology documented therein.
Done
Second IETF meeting: Review distributed documents and status of related activities, continue consulting liaisons. Discuss features and characteristics of underlying mechanisms. Define scope and schedule for follow-on work.
Done
Submit service interface specification to to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.

Current Internet-Drafts

Request for Comments