Trust Bootstrapping - Establishing a Secure Foundation for Digital Interactions

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Introduction

In today’s dynamic cybersecurity landscape, pre-establishing trust before any interaction is essential. Trust bootstrapping is the process that sets up a trust relationship between two or more subjects by proofing the identities claimed by those subjects. The sensitivity of the data or transactions between these subjects dictates the stringency of the trust establishment process.

The Problem

When two subjects initiate an interaction requiring a certain level of confidence, merely authenticating them might not suffice. The true identity of the subjects becomes crucial. Are they genuinely who they claim to be?

The Analysis

Trust is essential for secure interactions. Before any sensitive data exchange or transaction, trust must be established to ensure all parties can interact confidently without fear of unauthorized access or tampering.

Trust bootstrapping involves several steps to create a secure and reliable trust relationship:

  • Identity Proofing: Collect evidence to validate and verify the trustworthiness of a subject.
  • Digital Credential Creation: Create a digital credential, associated to the proofed identity, to facilitate future
  • identification of the subject.
  • Trust Relationship Formalization: Exchange public credentials to establish the trust relationship between subjects.

The Bootstrapping Process

Trust bootstrapping, or trust establishment, is a universal concept used in well-established technologies like TLS, Key Agreement, API, as well as emerging ones such as UEFI, FIDO2, and Verifiable Credentials. For example, bootstrapping in TLS might involve adding root certificates to a trust store, while in an API authentication, it might involve storing public keys or secrets in a data repository.

The bootstrapping process starts with identity proofing, which involves collecting identity evidence to validate and verify it. This evidence can be any official document, physical or digital, that asserts the subject’s identity attributes. The issuer of this evidence becomes the anchor of trust, meaning the subject’s identity is as trustworthy as the issuer. Examples of such entities include governments, educational institutions, and certificate authorities. Validation checks that the evidence meets the requirements for its type, such as ensuring a passport includes all expected data and is correctly formatted. Verification ensures the subject undergoing identity proofing matches the subject described in the evidence.

Once the identity is verified, the next step is creating a credential that binds the verified identity with an authenticator and, generally, cryptographic material. When the bootstrapping is complete, this credential is used to exercise trust in future interactions. Successful authentications indicate the subject with the verified identity is behind the interaction.

The final step defines the characteristics of the relationship, including the participant subjects, the required identity assurance level, whether trust is required from both subjects or only one, etc.

Conclusion

Trust bootstrapping is critical for creating secure digital environments. By verifying identities, managing trusted credentials, and establishing robust trust relationships, we can ensure safe and reliable interactions. As cyber threats evolve, trust bootstrapping will remain a cornerstone of cybersecurity strategies, enabling secure communication and transactions in an increasingly connected world.

References

  • David Temoshok (NIST), Diana Proud-Madruga (Electrosoft), Yee-Yin Choong (NIST), Ryan Galluzzo (NIST), Sarbari Gupta (Electrosoft), Connie LaSalle (NIST), Naomi Lefkovitz (NIST), Andrew Regenscheid (NIST), “Digital Identity Guidelines”, Revision 4, 2nd Public Draft, 21 August 2024, csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/63/4/2pd
  • T. Lodderstedt (sprind.org), D. Fett (Authlete), M. Haine (Considrd.Consulting Ltd), A. Pulido (Santander), K. Lehmann (1&1 Mail & Media Development & Technology GmbH), K. Koiwai (KDDI Corporation), “OpenID Connect for Identity Assurance 1.0”, 1 October 2024, openid.net/specs/openid-connect-4-identity-assurance-1_0.html

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