Chapter 4
Key Distribution and User
Authentication
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Remote user authentication
principles
• In most computer security contexts, user
authentication is the fundamental building block and
the primary line of defense
• User authentication is the basis for most types of
access control and for user accountability
• RFC 4949 (Internet Security Glossary) defines user
authentication as the process of verifying an identity
claimed by or for a system entity
• Identification step
• Presenting an identifier to the security system
• Verification step
• Presenting or generating authentication information that
corroborates the binding between the entity and the identifier
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NIST Model for Electronic User
Authentication
• NIST SP 800-63-2 (Electronic Authentication Guideline,
August 2013 defines electronic user authentication as the
process of establishing confidence in user identities that
are presented electronically to an information system
• Systems can use the authenticated identity to determine
if the authenticated individual is authorized to perform
particular functions
• In many cases, the authentication and transaction or
other authorized function take place across an open
network such as the Internet
• Equally, authentication and subsequent authorization can
take place locally, such as across a local area network
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Means of authentication
• There are four general means of authenticating a user’s
identity, which can be used alone or in combination
• Something the individual knows
• Examples include a password, a personal identification
number (PIN), or answers to a prearranged set of questions
• Something the individual possesses
• Examples include cryptographic keys, electronic keycards,
smart cards, and physical keys
• This type of authenticator is referred to as a token
• Something the individual is (static biometrics)
• Examples include recognition by fingerprint, retina, and face
• Something the individual does (dynamic biometrics)
• Examples include recognition by voice pattern, handwriting
characteristics, and typing rhythm
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Symmetric Key Distribution
using symmetric encryption
• For symmetric encryption to work, the two
parties to an exchange must share the same
key, and that key must be protected from
access by others
• Frequent key changes are usually desirable to
limit the amount of data compromised if an
attacker learns the key
• Key distribution technique
• The means of delivering a key to two parties
that wish to exchange data, without allowing
others to see the key
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Key Distribution
• For two parties A and B, there are the
following options:
1 •A key can be selected by A and physically delivered to B
2 •A third party can select the key and physically deliver it to A and B
3 •If A and B have previously and recently used a key, one party could transmit the new key to the other, using the old key to encrypt the new key
4 •If A and B each have an encrypted connection to a third party C, C could deliver a key on the encrypted links to A and B
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Kerberos
• Key distribution and user authentication service
developed at MIT
• Provides a centralized authentication server
whose function is to authenticate users to
servers and servers to users
• Relies exclusively on symmetric encryption,
making no use of public-key encryption
Two versions are in use
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•Version 4 implementations still exist, although this version is being phased out
Kerberos version 4
• A basic third-party authentication scheme
• Authentication Server (AS)
• Users initially negotiate with AS to identify self
• AS provides a non-corruptible authentication
credential (ticket granting ticket TGT)
• Ticket Granting Server (TGS)
• Users subsequently request access to other
services from TGS on basis of users TGT
• Complex protocol using DES
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Table 4.1
Summary of Kerberos Version 4 Message Exchanges
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.,
Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Kerberos Realms
• Kerberos realm A Kerberos environment consists of:
• A set of managed nodes that share
the same Kerberos database
• The Kerberos database resides on
the Kerberos master computer
system, which should be kept in a A Kerberos server
physically secure room
• A read-only copy of the Kerberos
database might also reside on
other Kerberos computer systems
• All changes to the database must
be made on the master computer A number of clients
system
• Changing or accessing the
contents of a Kerberos database
requires the Kerberos master
password
A number of application
servers
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Kerberos principal
• A service or user that is known to the
Kerberos system
• Each Kerberos principal is identified by its
principal
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Differences between
versions 4 and 5
Environmental Technical
shortcomings deficiencies
• Encryption system • Double encryption
dependence
• PCBC encryption
• Internet protocol
dependence • Session keys
• Message byte ordering
• Password attacks
• Ticket lifetime
• Authentication forwarding
• Interrealm authentication
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Key distribution using
asymmetric encryption
• One of the major roles of public-key encryption is to address the
problem of key distribution
• There are two distinct aspects to the use of public-key
encryption in this regard:
• The distribution of public keys
• The use of public-key encryption to distribute secret keys
• Public-key certificate
• Consists of a public key plus a user ID of the key owner, with the
whole block signed by a trusted third party
• Typically, the third party is a certificate authority (CA) that is trusted
by the user community, such as a government agency or a financial
institution
• A user can present his or her public key to the authority in a secure
manner and obtain a certificate
• The user can then publish the certificate
• Anyone needing this user’s public key can obtain the certificate and
verify
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All rights way of the attached trusted signature
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X.509 Certificates
• ITU-T recommendation X.509 is part of the X.500 series
of recommendations that define a directory service
• Defines a framework for the provision of authentication
services by the X.500 directory to its users
• The directory may serve as a repository of public-key
certificates
• Defines alternative authentication protocols based on the
use of public-key certificates
• Was initially issued in 1988
• Based on the use of public-key cryptography and digital
signatures
• The standard does not dictate the use of a specific
algorithm but recommends RSA
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Obtaining a user’s certificate
• User certificates generated by a CA have the
following characteristics:
• Any user with access to the public key of the CA
can verify the user public key that was certified
• No party other than the certification authority
can modify the certificate without this being
detected
• Because certificates are unforgeable, they
can be placed in a directory without the need
for the directory to make special efforts to
protect them
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Revocation of certificates
• Each certificate includes a period of validity
• Typically a new certificate is issued just before
the expiration of the old one
• It may be desirable on occasion to revoke a
certificate before it expires for one of the
following reasons:
• The user’s private key is assumed to be
compromised
• The user is no longer certified by this CA; reasons for
this include subject’s name has changed, the
certificate is superseded, or the certificate was not
issued in conformance with the CA’s policies
• The
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CA’s certificate is assumed to be compromised
Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
X.509 Version 3
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Key and policy information
• These extensions convey additional information about the
subject and issuer keys, plus indicators of certificate policy
• A certificate policy is a named set of rules that indicates
the applicability of a certificate to a particular community
and/or class of application with common security
requirements
Includes:
• Authority key identifier
• Subject key identifier
• Key usage
• Private-key usage period
• Certificate policies
• Policy mappings
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Certificate subject and
issuer attributes
• These extensions support alternative names,
in alternative formats, for a certificate subject
or certificate issuer and can convey additional
information about the certificate subject to
increase a certificate user’s confidence that
the certificate subject is a particular person or
entity
Includes:
• Subject alternative name
• Issuer alternative name
• Subject directory attributes
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Certification path
constraints
• These extensions allow constraint
specifications to be included in certificates
issued for CAs by other CAs
• The constraints may restrict the types of
certificates that can be issued by the subject
CA or that may occur subsequently in a
certification chain
Includes:
• Basic constraints
• Name constraints
• Policy constraints
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
PKIX Management functions
• Functions that potentially need to be supported by
management protocols:
• Registration
• Initialization
• Certification
• Key pair recovery
• Key pair update
• Revocation request
• Cross certification
• Alternative management protocols:
• Certificate management protocols (CMP)
• Designed to be a flexible protocol able to accommodate a variety of
technical, operational, and business models
• Certificate management messages over CMS (CMC)
• Is built on earlier work and is intended to leverage existing
implementations
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Identity Management
• A centralized, automated approach to provide enterprise wide
access to resources by employees and other authorized individuals
• Focus is defining an identity for each user (human or process),
associating attributes with the identity, and enforcing a means by which
a user can verify identity
• Central concept is the use of single sign-on (SSO) which enables a user
to access all network resources after a single authentication
• Principal elements of an identity management system:
• Authentication
• Authorization
• Accounting
• Provisioning
• Workflow automation
• Delegated administration
• Password synchronization
• Self-service password reset
• Federation
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Identity federation
• Identity federation is, in essence, an extension of
identity management to multiple security domains
• Federated identity management refers to the
agreements, standards, and technologies that enable
the portability of identities, identity attributes, and
entitlements across multiple enterprises and numerous
applications and supports many thousands, even
millions, of users
• Another key function of federated identity management
is identity mapping
• The federated identity management protocols map
identities and attributes of a user in one domain to the
requirements of another domain
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Standards
The Extensible Markup Language (XML)
• Appear similar to HTML documents that are visible as Web pages, but provide greater functionality
• Includes strict definitions of the data type of each field
• Provides encoding rules for commands that are used to transfer and update data objects
The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
• Minimal set of conventions for invoking code using XML over HTTP
• Enables applications to request services from one another with XML-based requests and receive responses as data formatted with XML
WS-Security
• A set of SOAP extensions for implementing message integrity and confidentiality in Web services
• Assigns security tokens to each message for use in authentication
Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)
• An XML-based language for the exchange of security information between online business partners
• Conveys authentication information in the form of assertions about subjects
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© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc., Hoboken, NJ. All rights reserved.
Summary
• Remote user authentication
principles • X.509 certificates
• The NIST model for electronic • Certificates
user authentication • X.509 Version 3
• Means of authentication
• Public-key
• Symmetric key distribution
infrastructure
using symmetric encryption
• PKIX management
• Kerberos functions
• Version 4 • PKIX management
• Version 5 protocols
• Key distribution using • Federated identity
asymmetric encryption management
• Public-key certificates
• Identity management
• Public-key distribution of
secret keys • Identity federation
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