Identity is a fundamental concept in both computing and human interactions. It is used as the basis for security policy enforcement in support of authentication, authorization, provisioning, and related access control technologies. For example, identities are used to identify human users or devices as part of end-to-end encryption applications, or used to authenticate entities that publish signed software artifacts. Identities may also be used for provisioning or managing devices or workloads in machine-to-machine systems.
The identity ecosystems that support these use cases are individually and collectively vast, including classical forms of identities such as email addresses, phone numbers, and certificates, to new forms of identities built on standards such as OAuth [1] and Verifiable Credentials [2]. These different identities vary in type (what sort of entity does the identity refer to?), uniqueness (does it refer to one or more entities?), security (how easy is it for identities to be spoofed?), longevity (is the identifier still valid at this moment?), and so on.
This program has several high-level goals. First, the program will survey the standardization landscape to determine what types of identity mechanisms exist and where they are being developed. Second, the program will examine the existing use of these identity mechanisms within the Internet, seeking to understand how identities are used or misused to solve real world problems. Third, the program will discuss what use cases are currently uncovered or otherwise inadequately addressed, with the intent of identifying gaps and opportunities for technical solutions to known problems that could be developed within the IETF or other venues.
In working towards these goals, the program could collect important use cases addressed by existing identity mechanisms, discuss functional requirements (e.g., trust model, access control, support for roles, etc.) essential for these use cases, and showcase how existing identity mechanisms meet or exceed these requirements. The program could also look at ways in which identities are misused or misappropriated for solving problems for which there are better solutions. As an example, using client IP addresses as a form of identity may once have been a reasonable way to implement server-side security controls, but these lack uniqueness and reliability properties that are essential for meaningful security controls.
Possible outputs from the program include:
- Document the current state of the identity ecosystem, including different applications and types of identities used in practice, as well as notable gaps where opportunities for additional technical work on identity mechanisms exist in the IETF or other venues.
- Coordinate one or more IAB workshops on identity-related topics to drive engagement between the IETF and other communities.
- Identify opportunities for relationships with other organizations working on identity technologies (e.g., OASIS, TCG, FIDO, OIDF, REFEDS).
- Identify potential new or existing venues within the IETF and/or IRTF to progress work in this space.
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