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Obstacles to PKI Deployment and Usage - Survey Results and Draft Action Plan Steve Hanna, Co-chair, OASIS PKI TC. Agenda. OASIS PKI Technical Committee Survey Results on Obstacles to PKI Deployment and Usage PKI Action Plan Invitation. OASIS PKI Technical Committee. Vital Statistics
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Obstacles to PKI Deployment and Usage - Survey Results and Draft Action PlanSteve Hanna, Co-chair, OASIS PKI TC
Agenda • OASIS PKI Technical Committee • Survey Results on Obstacles to PKI Deployment and Usage • PKI Action Plan • Invitation
OASIS PKI Technical Committee • Vital Statistics • Formed January 2003, successor to PKI Forum • 15 Voting Members: PKI customers, vendors, and experts • Open to any OASIS member • Objective • Address issues related to successful deployment of digital certificates • Plan • Identify primary obstacles to PKI deployment and usage • Develop PKI Action Plan to address these obstacles • Improve and build support for PKI Action Plan • Coordinate implementation of PKI Action Plan • OASIS PKI TC Role • Catalyst and coordinator for addressing PKI obstacles • Not a standards group or trade group
June 2003 Survey on PKI Obstacles • Goal • Identify primary obstacles to PKI Deployment and Usage • How • Web-based survey deployed June 9 to 22, 2003 • Invitation distributed through PKI standards bodies, trade groups, user associations, etc. • Respondents • 216 valid responses, many with careful text comments • 44% IT management and staff, remainder developers, consultants, etc. • Primary Work Location: 61% North America, 24% Europe, 6% Asia • Over 75% with 5 or more years experience in InfoSec/Privacy • 90% either helped deploy PKI or developed PKI-related software
Applications • Participants asked to rate various PKI supported applications as: • Most Important • Important • Not Important • Weight • 2 points for Most Important, 1 point for Important • Weight is average for all responses • Respondents allowed to enter and rank “Other” applications • All applications except Secure RPC considered at least “Important” by over 50% • No application considered “Most Important” by a majority • PKI is truly a horizontal, enabling technology with many applications
Obstacles • Participants given a list of obstacles and asked to rank each as: • Major Obstacle • Minor Obstacle • Not an Obstacle • Weight • Similar to Application Weight (2 points for Major Obstacle, 1 for Minor) • Write-in area for “Other” obstacles • No obstacle was ranked “Not an Obstacle” by the majority, indicating all were relevant • Top two obstacles rated as “Major” by at least 50%, top six rated “Major” by at least 40% • 92% indicated they would use PKI more if obstacles were removed. • Responses consistent across demographics
August 2003 Follow-up Survey • Goal • Obtain detailed information needed to create Action Plan • How • Web-based survey deployed during August 2003 • Invitation distributed to June 2003 respondents • Respondents • 74 valid responses • Demographics and opinions similar to previous survey • Improved Ranking System • Respondent given “budget” of 10 points, asked to allocate them among choices • Added • Clarifying questions on obstacles • Six “other” obstacles identified by respondents to June 2003 survey • Request for suggestions on how to address top obstacles
Which Applications Most Critically Need Improvements in PKI Support?
More on Application Support for PKI • Application support is inconsistent • Many applications have no PKI support • When present, PKI support varies widely • Interoperation is nearly impossible • Common comments on how to address this problem • Create guidelines for each type of application on how PKI support should be implemented (like draft-ietf-ipsec-pki-profile-03.txt) • Encourage OS vendors to include PKI features (e.g. smart card support)
More on Costs • Many Kinds of Costs • Common comments on how to address this problem • Promote specific standards that avoid the need for customization • Outsource • Encourage free PKI software and free CAs for low-assurance applications
More on PKI Understanding • Common comments on how to address this problem • Explain in non-technical terms the benefits, value, and ROI of PKI • Explain when PKI is appropriate (or not) • Provide a cookbook on deploying PKI • All educational materials should be unbiased and freely available
More on Interoperability Problems • Standards are inadequate • In some cases (e.g. certificate management) there are too many standards • In others (as with smart cards) there are too few • When present, standards are often too flexible and too complex • Overly flexible and complex standards create an environment where implementations from different vendors rarely interoperate • Common comments on how to address this problem • Create specific profiles of PKI standards, including application guidelines • Provide interoperability testing, test suites, and certification
PKI Action Plan • Status • Draft in Public Review • Asking all stakeholders (users, vendors, standards groups, and experts) to review, comment on, and support the plan • Plan to announce Action Plan formally in February 2004 • Features • Develop specific application guidelines on PKI standards use • Increase interoperability testing, possibly with branding and certification • Ask application vendors what they need to provide PKI support • Gather and/or enhance educational materials
A Call to Action • Obstacles to PKI deployment and usage are an industry-wide problem • The obstacles are widely agreed upon • They hurt all of us (increasing costs, slowing down innovation, reducing sales, reducing security) • The PKI Action Plan is a Call to Action for the industry • The PKI TC is passing on requests from hundreds of customers • Implementing the PKI Action Plan will require cooperation from all of us • The PKI TC plans to act as a catalyst and coordinator • Helping the industry agree on problems and solutions • Supporting and publicizing efforts already under way • Encouraging new efforts
An Invitation • PKI Stakeholders (users, vendors, etc.) are invited to: • Review and comment on the draft PKI Action Plan • Sign on to support the PKI Action Plan • Join the OASIS PKI TC • http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/pki • pki-tc-chair@lists.oasis-open.org