Network Security Fundamentals [Electronic resources]

Digital IDs

A digital identity, or digital ID, is a means of proving your identity or that you have been granted permission to access information on network devices or services. The system or method behind digital IDs is similar to nonelectronic means of identification. For instance, entering a private dancing club requires an ID check of a membership card to validate your claim to have the right to enter the venue. Using a photo ID on the card prevents others from abusing the card and impersonating valid members of the club.

Digital IDs are often required for electronic bank transactions, secure e-mail transmissions, and online shopping.

NOTE

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T), formerly known as CCITT, is a multinational union that provides standards for telecommunication equipment. The ITU-T X.509 standard for digital certificates (digital IDs) is one of those telecommunications standards. Digital certificates are used in a broad range of applications, including web services, e-mail services, and banking applications. The standard applies to a wide range of environments.

As stated previously, a digital ID is a means of proving that you have been granted permission to access information on network devices or services. To better understand the concept, let's examine the process of online shopping for a book from Cisco Press. Before the customer can trust the vendor, Cisco Press in this case, some sort of authentication needs to occur. The authentication occurs during the establishment of a connection. When the customer places an order, the customer's workstation web browser requests the certificate of the server. The certificate provides a form of authentication for the identity of the web server and also can serve as a way to guarantee that valid content is provided on the server.

The certificates combine the digital IDs and a set of keys to encrypt and validate the connection. These certificates are issued by a certification authority (CA) and are signed with the CA's private key. A CA is an organization that is trusted by both parties participating in a transaction. The role of the CA is to guarantee the identity of each party participating in the transaction.

Figure 3-1 shows the details contained within a digital certificate.

The section at the left side on Figure 3-1 contains general information about the signature. The details of the certificate are displayed on the right side of the figure.

This digital ID is issued by Thawte Personal Basic CA. (Thawte Personal Basic is used here just as an example of a CA. It has no correlation with the Cisco Press website.) This signature is intended to prove the validity of the server's identity to a remote computer and can also be used to protect e-mail messages. The certificate ensures that the software is protected against alterations after publication. Typically, to check the parameters of a digital ID, a user can click the Details tab on the certificate. The parameters of the digital ID can include the following:

• Version number: V3

• Serial number: 00

• Signature algorithm: MD5RSA

• Name of the issuer: Thawte Personal Basic CA

• Expiration date: Friday, January 01, 2021

• Owner's name: Thawte Personal Basic CA

• Owner's public key: RSA (1024 bits)

All these fields are in compliance with the ITU-T X.509 specifications.

Let's go back to the book-ordering process through the Cisco Press website. The online user connects to the Cisco Press website using Internet Explorer. To start sending protected (encrypted) information, the web browser must obtain the proper certificate and be set up to use this certificate. From the moment the user visits the Cisco Press secure website, the Cisco Press web server automatically sends its certificate. Note that secure URLs add an

s to

http to become

https . Figure 3-2 displays the certificate that is received from the server.

Once the exchange is successfully completed, the web browser displays a lock icon on the status bar of the application to indicate that a secure channel is established. This certificate guarantees the identity of the remote computer for the user. The certificate was issued by Secure Server Certification Authority for order.superlibrary.com and is valid until November 26, 2004.

Three types of certificates are available:

• Personal digital ID or personal certificate

• Server digital ID or website certificate

• Developers' digital ID

Software developers use developers' IDs. Internet Explorer and Netscape use only personal digital IDs and server digital IDs.

Personal certificates are used for sending personal information over the Internet to a website, whereby the web server requires verification of the user's identity. Personal certificates are most commonly used for the exchange of e-mails by individual users. Once the personal certificate is installed, the digital ID is bound to your e-mail address and can be used to digitally sign your e-mail and receive encrypted e-mails. Personal certificates are not seen during communication, which makes the process transparent to the user.

Website certificates enable and state that a specific web server is operating in a secure and authentic way. A web server ID or certificate unambiguously identifies and authenticates the web server and guarantees the encryption of any information passed between the web server and the individual user. For instance, when sending your personal information (credit card details) to an online store, it is a good idea to first check the certificate of the store to ensure that your information is protected while in transit.

The different digital ID services, whether they take the form of a personal certificate or a website certificate, use key encryption techniques with two keys, namely a public key and a private key. Figure 3-3 illustrates the mechanism behind this encryption technique.

Only the public key is exchanged between the sender and receiver. Before actual transmission starts between two hosts, the sending host forwards its certificate, providing the public key, so the receiver can send encrypted data or information back. The information that is received back can be decrypted using the private key. The private key has two main functions. First, it makes a digital ID or signature unique, and second, it decrypts information in combination with the corresponding public key.

Let's take a closer look at this process by examining the steps shown in Figure 3-3.

This process is covered in greater detail in Chapter 13, "Public Key Infrastructure."