Page History

...

The following person or office can answer questions about the Participant's identity management system or resource access management policy or practice.
Name: Paul B. Hill
Title or role: Consulting Architect within Information Services and Technology
Email address: touchstone-support at mit.edu
Phone: (617) 253-0124 FAX: (617) 258-8736

Wiki Markup*Credential Provider Information*
The most critical responsibility that a Credential Provider Participant has to the Federation is to provide trustworthy and accurate identity assertions.\[3\] It is important for a Resource Provider to know how your _electronic identity credentials_ are issued and how reliable the information associated with a given credential (or person) is known.

Community

2.1 If you are a Credential Provider, how do you define the set of people who are eligible to receive an electronic identity? If exceptions to this definition are allowed, who must approve such an exception?
 
MIT faculty, students and staff are entitled to obtain MIT credentials. These are in the form of Kerberos principals, X.509 Certificates, and MIT ID Cards. Additionally a sponsored guest account is available to any voucher or temp employee working for an MIT department. Guests and visitors who are working on Institute projects in a way that requires an MIT electronic identity are also eligible for a sponsored guest account. Finally, former MIT students or staff who are continuing their work with their department for a period of time after their departure can have their account sponsored by their supervisor.
 Accounts can be sponsored by any current member of the MIT faculty or staff. Students are currently not eligible to sponsor guest accounts. An account's sponsor will be the primary contact for problems related to the account and renewal questions.unmigrated-wiki-markup

2.2 "Member of Community"\[4\] is an assertion that might be offered to enable access to resources made available to individuals who participate in the primary mission of the university or organization. For example, this assertion might apply to anyone whose affiliation is "current student, faculty, or staff."

What subset of persons registered in your identity management system would you identify as a "Member of Community" in Shibboleth identity assertions to other InCommon participants?
 
We view "Member of Community" as a broad category that includes all holders of a valid MIT Kerberos ID or X.509certificate. In addition to faculty, staff, and students, this will include visiting scholars, contractors, and voucher employees. It will not includes people that have an MIT ID number but do not have a valid MIT Kerberos principal or X.509 certificate.
 We are able to provide finer granularity for other negotiated assertions.
 

...

Note users may choose to suppress some of this directory information.
 

...

• _MIT Affiliation \ [employee \ | student \ | affiliate\]_
• DisplayName
• EPPN
• MIT email address
• Department affiliation
• Job title if an employee

...

2.11 Would you consider your attribute assertions to be reliable enough to:unmigrated-wiki-markup

*_\[ X\] control access to on-line information databases licensed to your organization?_* *_\[ X\] be used to purchase goods or services for your organization?_* *_\[ X\] enable access to personal information such as student loan status?_*
[ X] be used to purchase goods or services for your organization?
[ X] enable access to personal information such as student loan status?

Note that each of these answers require more context to fully answer. We do have reliable data sources which can be used to generate such assertions, but there needs to be agreement about the exact nature of the assertion and the context in which it will be used in order to be fully confident in the response to the question.

...

The numbered paragraphs below provide additional background to the numbered questions in the main part of this document.unmigrated-wiki-markup

\[1.2\] InCommon Credential Providers are strongly encouraged to post on their web site the privacy and information security policies that govern their _identity management system_. Resource Providers are strongly encouraged to post their policies with respect to use of personally identifying information.

Wiki Markup\[1.3\] Other InCommon Participants may wish to contact this person or office with further questions about the information you have provided or if they wish to establish a more formal relationship with your organization regarding resource sharing.

Wiki Markup\[2\] Many organizations have very informal processes for issuing electronic credentials. For example, one campus does this through their student bookstore. A _Resource Provider_ may be more willing to accept your _assertions_ to the extent that this process can be seen as authoritative. Resource Provider may be more willing to accept your assertions to the extent that this process can be seen as authoritative.

Wiki Markup\[2.1\] It is important for a _Resource Provider_ to have some idea of the community whose identities you may represent. This is particularly true for _assertions_ such as the eduPerson "Member of Community" or "student," etc. A typical definition might be "Faculty, staff, and active students" but it might also include alumni, prospective students, temporary employees, visiting scholars, etc. In addition, there may be formal or informal mechanisms for making exceptions to this definition, e.g. to accommodate a former student still finishing a thesis or an unpaid volunteer.

This question asks to whom you, as a Credential Provider, will provide electronic credentials. This is typically broadly defined so that the organization can accommodate a wide variety of applications locally. The reason this question is important is to distinguish between the set of people who might have a credential that you issue and the subset of those people who fall within your definition of "Member of Community" for the purpose of InCommon attribute assertions.

Wiki Markup\[2.2\] The _assertion_ of "Member of Community" is often good enough for deciding whether to grant access to basic on-line resources, e.g. library-like materials or web sites. InCommon encourages participants to use this _assertion_ only for "Faculty, Staff, and active Students" but some organizations may have the need to define this differently. InCommon _Resource Providers_ need to know if has been defined differently.unmigrated-wiki-markup

\[2.3\] For example, if there is a campus recognized office of record that issues such electronic credentials and that office makes use of strong, reliable technology and good database management practices, those factors might indicate highly reliable credentials and hence trustworthy _identity_ _assertions_.

Wiki Markup\[2.4\] Different technologies carry different inherent risks. For example, a userID and password can be shared or "stolen" rather easily. A PKI credential or SecureID card is much harder to share or steal. For practical reasons, some campuses use one technology for student credentials and another for faculty and staff. In some cases sensitive applications will warrant stronger and/or secondary credentials.

\[2.5\] Sending passwords in "clear text" is a significant risk and all InCommon Participants are strongly encouraged to eliminate any such practice. Unfortunately this may be difficult, particularly with legacy applications. For example, gaining access to a centralized calendar application via a wireless data connection while you are attending a conference might reveal your password to many others at that conference. If this is also your campus credential password, it could be used by another person to impersonate you to InCommon Participants.

\[2.6\] "Single sign-on" (SSO) is a method that allows a user to unlock their _electronic identity credential_ once and then use it for access to a variety of resources and applications for some period of time. This avoids people having to remember many different identifiers and passwords or to continually log into and out of systems. However, it also may weaken the link between an _electronic identity_ and the actual person to whom it refers because someone else might be able to use the same computer and assume the former user's _identity_. If there is no limit on the duration of a SSO session, a Federation _Resource Provider_ may be concerned about the validity of any _identity_ _assertions_ you might make. Therefore it is important to ask about your use of SSO technologies.

\[2.7\] In some _identity management systems_, primary identifiers for people might be reused, particularly if they contain common names, e.g. Jim Smith@MYU.edu. This can create ambiguity if a _Resource Provider_ requires this primary identifier to manage access to resources for that person.

\[2.8\] Security of the database that holds information about a person is at least as critical as the _electronic identity credentials_ that provide the links to records in that database. Appropriate security for the database, as well as management and audit trails of changes made to that database, and management of access to that database information are important.

\[2.9\] Many organizations will make available to anyone certain, limited "public information." Other information may be given only to internal organization users or applications, or may require permission from the subject under FERPA or HIPAA rules. A _Resource Provider_ may need to know what information you are willing to make available as "public information" and what rules might apply to other information that you might release.

\[2.10\] In order to help a _Resource Provider_ assess how reliable your _identity_ _assertions_ may be, it is helpful to know how your organization uses those same assertions. The assumption here is that you are or will use the same _identity management system_ for your own applications as you are using for InCommon purposes.

\[2.11\] Your answer to this question indicates the degree of confidence you have in the accuracy of your _identity_ _assertions_.

\[2.12\] Even "public information" may be constrained in how it can be used. For example, creating a marketing email list by "harvesting" email addresses from a campus directory web site may be considered illicit use of that information. Please indicate what restrictions you place on information you make available to others.

\[2.13\] Please indicate what legal or other external constraints there may be on information you make available to others.

\[3.1\] Please identify your access management requirements to help other Participants understand and plan for use of your resource(s). You might also or instead provide contact information for an office or person who could answer inquiries.

\[0\] As a _Resource Provider_, please declare what use(s) you would make of attribute information you receive.

\[0\] Personally identifying information can be a wide variety of things, not merely a name or credit card number. All information other than large group identity, e.g. "member of community," should be protected while resident on your site.

\[0\] Certain functional positions can have extraordinary privileges with respect to information on your systems. What oversight means are in place to ensure incumbents do not misuse such privileges?

\[0\] Occasionally protections break down and information is compromised. Some states have laws requiring notification of affected individuals. What legal and/or institutional policies govern notification of individuals if information you hold is compromised?

\[0\] Most InCommon Participants will use Internet2 Shibboleth technology but this is not required. It may be important for other participants to understand whether you are using other implementations of the technology standards.

[2.5] Sending passwords in "clear text" is a significant risk and all InCommon Participants are strongly encouraged to eliminate any such practice. Unfortunately this may be difficult, particularly with legacy applications. For example, gaining access to a centralized calendar application via a wireless data connection while you are attending a conference might reveal your password to many others at that conference. If this is also your campus credential password, it could be used by another person to impersonate you to InCommon Participants.

[2.6] "Single sign-on" (SSO) is a method that allows a user to unlock their electronic identity credential once and then use it for access to a variety of resources and applications for some period of time. This avoids people having to remember many different identifiers and passwords or to continually log into and out of systems. However, it also may weaken the link between an electronic identity and the actual person to whom it refers because someone else might be able to use the same computer and assume the former user's identity. If there is no limit on the duration of a SSO session, a Federation Resource Provider may be concerned about the validity of any identity assertions you might make. Therefore it is important to ask about your use of SSO technologies.

[2.7] In some identity management systems, primary identifiers for people might be reused, particularly if they contain common names, e.g. Jim Smith@MYU.edu. This can create ambiguity if a Resource Provider requires this primary identifier to manage access to resources for that person.

[2.8] Security of the database that holds information about a person is at least as critical as the electronic identity credentials that provide the links to records in that database. Appropriate security for the database, as well as management and audit trails of changes made to that database, and management of access to that database information are important.

[2.9] Many organizations will make available to anyone certain, limited "public information." Other information may be given only to internal organization users or applications, or may require permission from the subject under FERPA or HIPAA rules. A Resource Provider may need to know what information you are willing to make available as "public information" and what rules might apply to other information that you might release.

[2.10] In order to help a Resource Provider assess how reliable your identity assertions may be, it is helpful to know how your organization uses those same assertions. The assumption here is that you are or will use the same identity management system for your own applications as you are using for InCommon purposes.

[2.11] Your answer to this question indicates the degree of confidence you have in the accuracy of your identity assertions.

[2.12] Even "public information" may be constrained in how it can be used. For example, creating a marketing email list by "harvesting" email addresses from a campus directory web site may be considered illicit use of that information. Please indicate what restrictions you place on information you make available to others.

[2.13] Please indicate what legal or other external constraints there may be on information you make available to others.

[3.1] Please identify your access management requirements to help other Participants understand and plan for use of your resource(s). You might also or instead provide contact information for an office or person who could answer inquiries.

[3.2] As a Resource Provider, please declare what use(s) you would make of attribute information you receive.

[3.3] Personally identifying information can be a wide variety of things, not merely a name or credit card number. All information other than large group identity, e.g. "member of community," should be protected while resident on your site.

[3.4] Certain functional positions can have extraordinary privileges with respect to information on your systems. What oversight means are in place to ensure incumbents do not misuse such privileges?

[3.5] Occasionally protections break down and information is compromised. Some states have laws requiring notification of affected individuals. What legal and/or institutional policies govern notification of individuals if information you hold is compromised?

[4.1] Most InCommon Participants will use Internet2 Shibboleth technology but this is not required. It may be important for other participants to understand whether you are using other implementations of the technology standards.

[4.2] As a Credential Provider, you may wish to place constraints on the kinds of applications that may make use of your assertions. _As a _Resource Provider, you make wish to make a statement about how User credentials must be managed. This question is completely open ended and for your Wiki Markup\[0\] As a _Credential Provider_, you may wish to place constraints on the kinds of applications that may make use of your _assertions. \_As a \_Resource Provider_, you make wish to make a statement about how User credentials must be managed. This question is completely open ended and for your use.

• *Glossary