Linux 2005

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CACert Assurance

Thursday Evening

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CACert Assurance

This year we are going to run a CAcert assurance event during the conference. We hope to substantially increase the CAcert web-of-trust within the UK by having an assurance event. However taking part in the assurance requires some preparation by all the participants, so read on to see why this is worth doing, and how to participate.

CAcert

CAcert.org is a community driven Certificate Authority that issues free certificates to the public at large. More than 30,000 users have already had their identity verified and CAcert has already issued over 54,000 certificates.

These certificates can be used to sign and encrypt email, authenticate and authorize users connecting to websites and secure data transmission over the Internet. Any application that supports the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) can make use of certificates signed by CAcert.

Anyone who can log into the CAcert web pages and provide a verifiable email address can obtain short lived basic certificates. To obtain longer lived or more complex certificates you need to acquire a number of CAcert points - and you get these by being assured.

Assurance

CAcert assurance is an identity verification process where one CAcert member verifies the identity of another. The assurer can then allocate a number of points to the assured (additionally the assurer gains 2 points for each assurance they carry out).

This process builds up an auditable web-of-trust among CAcert members, in a similar way to the PGP web-of-trust.

UKUUG Linux 2005 Assurance

Getting CAcert assured in the UK is difficult as there are only 35 or so registered assurers so far. We aim to substantially increase that number by enabling many of those at the conference to be assured, and to cross-assure each other. This will have advantages in allowing those at the conference to make better use of the CAcert facilities, and allow them to later assure others and expand the web of trust.

We will have a few CAcert assurers available during the conference, along with forms, information and other requirements to enable people to both be assured and to assure others there.

Pre-Requisites

The assurance process consists of verifying the identity of people and linking that to a CAcert account. Therefore we need each person wishing to be assured to bring 2 forms of government issued ID, one of which must have a photograph - appropriate forms of ID include passports, driving license and birth certificate.

Each person being assured will also need to join CAcert. This is a web based process, which requires you to enter your name, date of birth and a email address (which will be verified as part of the process). It is much more convenient if you join CAcert before being assured.

Further Information and Links

• The CAcert website
• The CAcert assurance information
• The CAcert wiki (general information and HOWTO forum