PKI Consortium blog

Posts by tag CASC

    From CASC to the Public Key Infrastructure Consortium
    July 12, 2021 by Paul van Brouwershaven (Digitorus), Paul van Brouwershaven (Entrust) Chris Bailey (Entrust) CASC PKI PKIC
    Over the years, the need for private, industry, or solution-specific PKI has grown significantly, with stricter policies and the revocation of certificates and CAs becoming more common. The impact of changes in centralized PKI have caused delays and disruption of third-party services that may or may not have been considered. Any PKI (public, private, or specific) must operate according to best practices, clear policies and without a single point of failure.

    9 Common Myths About CAs
    August 1, 2019 by Tim Callan (Sectigo) CA/Browser Forum CASC Code Signing Encryption ETSI Identity Malware PKI Qualified Revocation SSL/TLS Vulnerability WebTrust
    Over the years misconceptions about CAs and the SSL infrastructure have arisen. Below is a list of common myths related to SSL and CAs. Myth #1: CAs are not regulated Fact: CAs are subject to various checks and balances, including third-party qualified audits through WebTrust or ETSI and strict criteria set forth by leading browsers, before they are accepted in browser root stores. Similarly, the CA/Browser Forum’s Baseline Requirements and Network Security Guidelines establish global standards for certificate issuance and CA controls that will soon be included in third-party auditing standards.

    What the Latest Firefox Update Means for SSL Certificates
    June 14, 2019 by Tim Callan (Sectigo) CASC EV Firefox SSL/TLS Vulnerability
    Last month marked the release of Firefox 66, the newest iteration of the ever-popular web browser. The update adds a number of interesting new features, including improvements to content loading and extension storage, auto-play sound blocking, and support for the AV1 codec (on the Windows version at least). The search feature has also been improved, and, as is typical of browser updates, a number of known security vulnerabilities have been patched.

    CA Security Council (CASC) 2019 Predictions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
    December 6, 2018 by Bruce Morton (Entrust), Chris Bailey (Entrust), Jay Schiavo (Entrust) Apple Attack CASC Chrome DV Encryption EV Firefox Google Identity IETF Malware Microsoft Phishing SSL/TLS TLS 1.0 TLS 1.2 TLS 1.3
    As the legendary coach of the NY Yankees Yogi Berra allegedly said, “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” But we’re going to try. Here are the CA Security Council (CASC) 2019 Predictions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good Prediction: By the end of 2019, over 90% of the world’s http traffic will be secured over SSL/TLS Encryption boosts user security and privacy, and the combined efforts of browsers and Certification Authorities (CAs) over the past few years have moved us rapidly to a world approaching 100% encryption.

    CASC Announces Launch of London Protocol to Improve Identity Assurance and Minimize Phishing on Identity Websites
    June 27, 2018 by CA Security Council Attack CA/Browser Forum CASC DV EV Identity OV Phishing SSL/TLS
    LONDON – (June 27, 2018) – The Certificate Authority Security Council (CASC), an advocacy group committed to the advancement of the security of websites and online transactions, announced at the CA/Browser Forum event in London the launch of the London Protocol – an initiative to improve identity assurance and minimize the possibility of phishing activity on websites encrypted with organization validated (OV) and extended validation (EV) certificates, which contain organization identity information (Identity Certificates).

    Fortify Provides a More Secure Web Experience for Certificates and Smart Cards
    June 19, 2018 by CA Security Council CASC Code Signing S/MIME SSL/TLS
    San Francisco – June 19, 2018 – The Certificate Authority Security Council (CASC), an advocacy group committed to the advancement of web security, today announced that Fortify, an open source application sponsored by the Council, is now available for Windows and Mac. Fortify, a free app, connects a user’s web browsers to smart cards, security tokens, and certificates on a user’s local machine. This allows users to generate X.509 certificates in their browser, replacing the loss of key generation functionality.

    Stricter Standards for SSL Server Test Coming in 2017
    December 13, 2016 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) 3DES CASC Forward Secrecy RC4 SSL/TLS TLS 1.3 Vulnerability
    This is a good time to offer a reminder that the CASC has a great tool for secure server testing, the SSL Server Test. The tool grades your server installation and reviews the: certificate, protocol support, key exchange and cipher strength for security against standards and known vulnerabilities. The grading tool also provides feedback on handshake simulations with various versions of browsers and operating systems. This lets the server administrator know which implementations are supported.

    Leading Certificate Authorities and Microsoft Introduce New Standards to Protect Consumers Online
    December 8, 2016 by CA Security Council CASC Code Signing FIPS HSM Identity Malware Microsoft Revocation SSL/TLS TSA
    San Francisco –December 8, 2016 – the Certificate Authority Security Council (CASC), an advocacy group committed to the advancement web security, today announced the Code Signing Working Group has released new Minimum Requirements for Code Signing for use by all Certificate Authorities (CA). These requirements represent the first-ever standardized code signing guidelines. Code signing is the method of using a certificate-based digital signature to sign executables and scripts in order to verify the author’s identity and ensure that the code has not been changed or corrupted.

    Minimum Requirements for Code Signing Certificates
    July 20, 2016 by Bruce Morton (Entrust) CA/Browser Forum CASC Code Signing FIPS HSM Malware Microsoft Revocation TSA
    It is time for an update on the Baseline Requirements for Code Signing. First the bad news, the new standard was not approved by the CA/Browser Forum due to philosophical differences among some forum members who felt code signing was not in scope with the Forum’s charter. The good news is the document was created in a multi-stakeholder environment and substantially improves the current management processes. As such, it was decided to bring the document outside of the forum and finalize it as part of the CA Security Council.

    Code Signing Baseline Requirements
    November 30, 2015 by CA Security Council CA/Browser Forum CASC Code Signing Identity Malware
    You may have heard that the CA/Browser Forum is getting ready to approve Baseline Requirements for Code Signing certificates. But why is this important? Let’s back up and get some background on code signing. Software code that is digitally signed indicates to the user that the code has not been tampered with since it was signed. It also provides authenticity as to who signed it and when. With the advent of malware, it’s important to insure that the code which was written by the developer is the same code which you downloaded and installed into your computer or mobile phone.

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