Title: Independent Data Unit Protection Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (IDUP-GSS-API)
Author(s): C. Adams.
Status: INFORMATIONAL
Date: Dec 1998
Length: 156070
The IDUP-GSS-API extends the GSS-API [RFC2078] for applications requiring protection of a generic data unit (such as a file or message) in a way which is independent of the protection of any other data unit and independent of any concurrent contact with designated "receivers" of the data unit. Thus, it is suitable for applications such as secure electronic mail where data needs to be protected without any on-line connection with the intended recipient(s) of that data. The protection offered by IDUP includes services such as data origin authentication with data integrity, data confidentiality with data integrity, and support for non-repudiation services. Subsequent to being protected, the data unit can be transferred to the recipient(s) - or to an archive - perhaps to be processed ("unprotected") only days or years later.
Throughout the remainder of this document, the "unit" of data described in the above paragraph will be referred to as an IDU (Independent Data Unit). The IDU can be of any size (the application may, if it wishes, split the IDU into pieces and have the protection computed a piece at a time, but the resulting protection token applies to the entire IDU). However, the primary characteristic of an IDU is that it represents a stand-alone unit of data whose protection is entirely independent of any other unit of data. If an application protects several IDUs and sends them all to a single receiver, the IDUs may be unprotected by that receiver in any order over any time span; no logical connection of any kind is implied by the protection process itself. As with RFC2078, this IDUP-GSS-API definition provides security services to callers in a generic fashion, supportable with a range of underlying mechanisms and technologies and hence allowing source- level portability of applications to different environments. This specification defines IDUP-GSS-API services and primitives at a level independent of underlying mechanism and programming language environment, and is to be complemented by other, related specifications:
- documents defining specific parameter bindings for particular
language environments;
- documents defining token formats, protocols, and procedures to
be implemented in order to realize IDUP-GSS-API services atop
particular security mechanisms.
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