Middleware, Ten Years In: Vapority into Reality into Virtuality Dr. Ken Klingenstein, Senior Director, Middleware and Security, Internet2 Technologist, University of Colorado at Boulder
Topics Middleware, Ten Years In From Vapor to Reality Some of the successes Some of the failures Middleware, Ten Years Forward From Reality to Virtuality Organizations Resources Communities From Virtuality back to Reality
Before there was middleware apps
First Vapors When end-user PKI was months away When the big application houses didn t care about middleware We knew it was something about authentication and authorization We couldn t agree about much payloads or protocols or spelling
In the beginning apps Directories Authentication
Dealing with the apps apps Directories Authentication
Filling out the portfolio Directories Authentication Groups Privileges Authorization
Federation Directories Authentication Federation Federation Authentication Directories Directories Authentication
COmanage Directories Authentication Federation Federation Authentication Directories Directories Authentication
Vapors become Reality When end-user PKI was months away When the big application houses care so much they have to own it Middleware as the new lock-in point Federation as identity infrastructure and attributes as the payloads IdM not a local industry anymore
Some of the successes Building a fundamental new layer of Internet infrastructure Engaging a broad and growing international group of expertise Crafting a larger world that works for the R&E needs Proving that security and privacy can work together
More successes Focusing on the schema early on Coming together around SAML, and getting the rest of the world to come along Working towards scaling (rough consensus and running code) Seeing parts of other worlds
Some of the failures The directory of directories End-to-end end-user PKI Establish resources to support the infrastructure Diagnostics The rest of the middleware stack
Middleware, Ten Years Forward Working on Attributes and Federation Growing our federations Interfederation and Soup The Attribute Ecosystem Learning the Tao of Attributes Building and Managing the Virtual Integration, Integration, Integration
Growing our Federations Deciding on the services Core services identity/attributes for access controls Value added services content aggregation, roaming, PKI and SSL services, collaboration platforms, Silver Finding the business models Finding the governance structures Making a marketplace
Interfederation and Soup Interfederation essential to scale Across vertical sectors Internationally To the consumer marketplace Confederation and Overlays will also exist Soup Institutional groups that cut across segments geography, shared business purpose, etc Mix of special purpose and infrastructure federations tangled
Attribute ecosystem use cases Obtaining student consent for information release FEMA needing first responders attributes and qualifications dynamically High-confidence attributes Access-ability use cases AAMC step-up authentication possibilities Public input processes Grid relying parties aggregating VO and campus The IEEE problem The over legal age and the difference in legal ages use cases Self-asserted attributes friend, interests, preferences, etc
Attribute Ecosystem Key Issues Attribute Aggregation Attribute Metadata Sources of authority and delegation Schema management, mapping, etc User interface Privacy and legal issues
Attribute aggregation Gathering attributes from multiple sources From IdP or several IdP From other sources of authority From intermediaries such as portals Static and dynamic acquisition Many linking strategies Will require a variety of standardized mechanisms Bulk feeds, user activated links, triggers
Attribute metadata Federated attributes need common meaning Representation of meaning At a system level At a user level LOA associated with the value assigned Code+data equals programs LOA itself faces re-interpretations Separation of components of LOA Use of step-up authentication
Sources of authority Who gets to assign semantics (and syntax) to an area? How can they delegate assignment of value? What needs to be retained for audit/ diagnostic
Schema management, mappings Registries for schema Role of national level schema How to avoid mappings How to handle mappings
User Interface It s the attributes, urn:mace:incommon:entitlement:clue:zero, deprecated Needs include translation of oid to english, to inform of the consequences of release decision, recording consent and getting the defaults right so that this is seldom used Metaphors such as Infocard are useful, but will need extensions and utiization
Privacy management Two approaches emerging uapprove http://www.switch.ch/aai/support/tools/ uapprove.html InfoCard/Higgins Who sets attribute release policies? Who overrides the settings? What logs are kept?
GSA Workshop: The Tao of Attributes Begin exploring the attribute issues Using federal use cases, including Citizenship, voting residency Access-abilities First responder capabilities PI-person Motivate the larger requirements, drive privacy policies Explore rich query languages, etc. All-star cast at the end of September at NIH
Virtuality Virtual Communities Virtual Machine Appliances Virtual Services Internet protocols with trust and identity
Virtual Communities A virtual enterprise that wants to play real well with real enterprises. Needs coordinated identity management for collaboration and domain tools
Virtual Machine Appliances Allows clueless groups and other VO s to handle collaborations Brilliant way to handle peak load requirements Vexing issues of application updates, coordination of configuration among apps, etc. Must fit fully in the attribute ecosystem and reshape themselves on need
Virtual Services Clouds as low-start-up, largely scalable cyber infrastructure Cycles, storage, collaboration Fits into the domestication paradigm Clouds as legally tangled, non-standard,confusion Location and ownership of data Ability to adapt to new protocols Proprietary cloud internals
Integration, Integration and Integration Of types of Internet identity Of identity with protocols Domestication of applications
Internet identity Federated identity Enterprise centric, exponentially growing, privacy preserving, rich attribute mechanisms Requires lawyers, infrastructure, etc User centric identity P2P, rapidly growing, light-weight Marketplace is fractured; products are getting heavier to deal with privacy, attributes, etc. Unifying layers emerging Cardspace, Higgins, OAuth
Integration Different forms of Internet identity will exist, serving different purposes, arising from different constituencies The trick is the intelligent integration of the technologies, at user and application level Cross-overs are happening Shib and Openid SAML and high assurance PKI holder of key Infocard/Higgins as an overarching user experience Federation and portal integration
Integration of identity and protocols Trust, Identity and the Internet - ISOC initiative to introduce trust and identity-leveraged capabilities to many RFC s and protocols Acknowledges the assumptions of the original protocols about the fine nature of our friends on the Internet and the subsequent realities http://www.isoc.org/isoc/mission/initiative/trust.shtml First target area is DKIM; subsequent targets include federated calendaring and sharing, firewall traversal
Domestication of Applications Identity, groups, roles, privileges What else to integrate? At what layers to specify the integration? How to integrate across the layered domestication specifications How much domestication is too much?
Virtuality back into Reality Our use cases continue to lead the corporate sector Our needs are more urgent than they are different Our students become the new consumers The shared vision is more powerful than the individuals who share it
We ve Lost Some Along the Way
We ve Picked Up Some New Ones
Final Thoughts Important, if somewhat invisible, work has been done There are significant opportunities ahead Its been a ride