Charles,

It is true that almost all assertion based protocols require that a RP and user 
have some trust in the OP/IdP.   This is equally the case for SAML and managed 
Info-Cards.

Some thing like PKI and personal info-cards allow the user to have complete 
control over the authenticator.  

There are two basic options:
1 increase the trustability of the OP/IdP
2 Use multiple IdP simultaneously and prey.

I don't personally believe that option 2 is all that practical or gives much 
more security for the average user.

Given that openID is only secure enough as a protocol for ICAM LoA 1 
(pseudonymous protecting no PII) the most practical path is to provide more 
trustable OP/IdP.

That said, with some of the v.Next changes openID will become appropriate for 
higher LoA.

I don't think Gov or Banks are going to be comfortable with multi Auth 
solutions.  They are going to insist on trusted OP/IdP.

You can have a look at the ICAM site to see where the US Gov is going.
http://www.idmanagement.gov/drilldown.cfm?action=openID_openGOV

I can see binding more than one openID to a RP to allow for recovery,  however 
that needs to be balanced against doubling the attack surface.

Regards
John Bradley

On 2009-12-07, at 9:47 PM, Shearer, Charles Dylan wrote:

> I have some concerns about OpenID, and I would like to see what those 
> involved think about them.
> 
> It seems to me that, regardless of how OpenID is deployed, it is always 
> possible for an OpenID provider itself to authenticate with a relying party 
> as any user by forging a request to authenticate using the user’s identifier. 
>  This is because a relying party cannot tell the difference between a user 
> attempting to log in using his or her identifier, and the user’s OpenID 
> provider spoofing that user to gain access to whatever services the relying 
> party provides to that user.  This seems to require that both users and 
> relying parties put a lot of trust in OpenID providers: for example, if I 
> used my OpenID identifier for online banking and email, my OpenID provider 
> could easily access my email and bank account.  
> 
> Additionally, even if we assume that OpenID providers will not log into 
> users’ accounts, I still cannot see how OpenID could provide nonrepudiation 
> regarding messages sent to a relying party by an authenticated user: for 
> example, if I authenticate with my bank using my OpenID identifier and then 
> use the bank’s “bill pay” service to pay a bill, there’s no way the bank can 
> prove that I ordered that payment because it is possible that someone working 
> for my OpenID provider logged in as me and ordered it.
> 
> Does anyone disagree with my analysis?
> 
> Dylan
> _______________________________________________
> security mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-security

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

_______________________________________________
security mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-security

Reply via email to