Getting government approval of a more secure OpenSSL

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

A much-improved version of the cryptographic building block lacks FIPS 140-2 validation, but SafeLogic is stepping in to change that.

When the Heartbleed bug was discovered in 2014, the federal government largely managed to avoid significant fallout from the OpenSSL vulnerabilities. But as the foundation responsible for that vital open-source software library has scrambled to update and patch vulnerabilities, agencies are now faced with a different problem:  the newer, more secure OpenSSL 1.1 lacks a critical federal validation for cryptographic software.

Using it in federal systems, in fact, would be against the law.

At issue is FIPS 140-2 -- a standard set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and its Canadian counterpart.  All federal cryptographic-based security systems that involve sensitive information must be FIPS 140-2 compliant.  And as the OpenSSL project's Steve Marquess explained in a September 2015 blog post, OpenSSL 1.1 was restructured so dramatically that new validation was needed.

That validation effort is a long and costly project, and Marquess warned at the time that without government sponsorship, OpenSSL 1.1 could be without a valid FIPS module for the foreseeable future.

On July 20, however, Marquess and SafeLogic founding CEO Ray Potter announced that SafeLogic would sponsor the FIPS validation.   "With changes over the last few years," Potter wrote in blog post explaining the decision, "the viability of legacy OpenSSL FIPS module validations have been repeatedly threatened, and the crypto community simply cannot accept the possibility of being without a certificate."

SafeLogic, a four-year-old Palo Alto, Calif., company that both offers proprietary encryption solutions and does FIPS validation for other products, will sponsor the engineering work on the FIPS module and then handle the validation effort.  Acumen Security will be the testing laboratory, and the engineering itself will be done by the OpenSSL project.

Potter told GCN the validation effort should avert an uncomfortable compliance bind that was looming.   

“It’s crucial to note that [Transport Layer Security Protocol Version 1.3] has made significant privacy and security improvements over TLS 1.2 and will soon be mandatory for DOD and other federal agencies," he said. "Of course, the catch is that TLS 1.3 is not compatible with previous versions of OpenSSL, so the migration to OpenSSL 1.1 will also be mandatory by proxy. This would have been the perfect storm in which the government would have been unable to comply with their own requirements if this project hadn’t commenced."

None of the parties would offer a target date for completing the validation and making OpenSSL 1.1 an option for government users.  Marquess, a former president of the OpenSSL Software Foundation who now heads OpenSSL Validation Services, had previously said the process could take two years or more, but SafeLogic officials told GCN they were confident validation would come "long before that."

Note: This article was updated on July 22 to correct Steve Marquess' professional affiliations. 


X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.