Secure Automation and Continuous Monitoring (SACM) Terminology
draft-ietf-sacm-terminology-10

SACM Working Group                                           H. Birkholz
Internet-Draft                                            Fraunhofer SIT
Intended status: Informational                                     J. Lu
Expires: January 9, 2017                              Oracle Corporation
                                                           N. Cam-Winget
                                                           Cisco Systems
                                                           July 08, 2016

     Secure Automation and Continuous Monitoring (SACM) Terminology
                     draft-ietf-sacm-terminology-10

Abstract

   This memo documents terminology used in the documents produced by
   SACM (Security Automation and Continuous Monitoring).

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 9, 2017.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 1]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   5.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   6.  Change Log  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   7.  Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   8.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   Appendix A.  The Attic  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22

1.  Introduction

   Our goal with this document is to improve our agreement on the
   terminology used in documents produced by the IETF Working Group for
   Security Automation and Continuous Monitoring.  Agreeing on
   terminology should help reach consensus on which problems we're
   trying to solve, and propose solutions and decide which ones to use.

2.  Terms and Definitions

   This section describes terms that have been defined by other RFC's
   and defines new ones.  The predefined terms will reference the RFC
   and where appropriate will be annotated with the specific context by
   which the term is used in SACM.

   Assertion:  Defined by the ITU in [X.1252] as "a statement made by an
      entity without accompanying evidence of its validity".  In the
      context of SACM, an assertion is a collection result that includes
      metadata about the data source (and optionally a timestamp
      indicating the point in time the assertion was created at).  The
      validity of an assertion cannot be verified.

   Assessment:  Defined in [RFC5209] as "the process of collecting
      posture for a set of capabilities on the endpoint (e.g., host-
      based firewall) such that the appropriate validators may evaluate
      the posture against compliance policy."

      Within SACM the use of the term is expanded to support other uses
      of collected posture (e.g. reporting, network enforcement,
      vulnerability detection, license management).  The phrase "set of
      capabilities on the endpoint" includes: hardware and software
      installed on the endpoint."

   Asset:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "a system resource that is (a)
      required to be protected by an information system's security

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 2]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      policy, (b) intended to be protected by a countermeasure, or (c)
      required for a system's mission".  In the scope of SACM, an asset
      can be composed of other assets.  Examples of Assets include:
      Endpoints, Software, Guidance, or X.509 public key certificates.
      An asset is not necessarily owned by an organization.

   Asset Management:  The process by which assets are provisioned,
      updated, maintained and deprecated.

   Attribute:  Defined in [RFC5209] as "data element including any
      requisite meta-data describing an observed, expected, or the
      operational status of an endpoint feature (e.g., anti-virus
      software is currently in use)."  If not indicated otherwise,
      attributes in SACM are represented and processed as attribute
      value pairs.

   Authentication:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "the process of verifying a
      claim that a system entity or system resource has a certain
      attribute value."

   Authorization:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "an approval that is granted
      to a system entity to access a system resource."

   Broker:  A broker is a specific controller type that contains control
      plane functions to provide and/or connect services on behalf of
      other SACM components via interfaces on the control plane.  A
      broker may provide, for example, authorization services and find,
      upon request, SACM components providing requested services.

   Capability:  In [I-D.ietf-i2nsf-terminology] a capability "defines a
      set of features that are available from a managed entity.
      Examples of "managed entities" are NSFs and Controllers, where NSF
      Capabilities and Controller Capabilities define functionality of
      an NSF and a Controller that may, but do not have to, be used,
      respectively.  All Capabilities are announced through the
      Registration Interface."

      In the context of SACM, the extent of a SACM component's ability
      is enabled by the functions it is composed of.  Capabilities are
      announced by a SACM component via the SACM component registration
      task and can be discovered by or negotiated with other SACM
      components.  For example, the capability of a SACM Provider may be
      to provide endpoint management data, or only a subset of that
      data.

   Collection Result:  Information about a target endpoint that is
      produced by a collector conducting a collection task.  A
      collection result is composed of one or more endpoint attributes.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 3]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Collection Task:  The task by which endpoint attributes and/or
      corresponding attribute values about a target endpoint are
      collected.  The collection tasks are targeted at specific target
      endpoints and therefore are targeted tasks.

      There are three types of frequency collection tasks can be
      conducted with:

      ad-hoc, e.g. triggered by a specific event or a query

      scheduled, e.g. in regular intervals, such as every minute or
      weekly

      continuously, e.g. a network behavior observation

      There are three types of collection methods, each requiring an
      appropriate set of functions to be included in the SACM component
      conducting the collection task:

      Self-Reporting: A SACM component located on the target endpoint
      itself conducts the collection task.

      Remote-Acquisition: A SACM component located on an Endpoint
      different from the target endpoint conducts the collection task
      via interfaces available on the target endpoint, e.g.  SNMP/
      NETCONF or WMI.

      Behavior-Observation: A SACM component located on an Endpoint
      different from the target endpoint observes network traffic
      related to the target endpoint and conducts the collection task
      via interpretation of that network traffic.

   Collector:  A piece of software that acquires information about one
      or more target endpoints by conducting collection tasks.  A
      collector provides acquired information to SACM components in the
      form of collection results.  A SACM component that consumes
      collection results may take on the role of a provider and publish
      the collection results in a SACM domain.  (TBD: A collector may
      not be a SACM component and therefore not part of a SACM domain).

   Configuration Drift:  The discrepancy of endpoint attributes
      representing the actual composition of a target endpoint (is-
      state) and its intended composition (should-state) in the scope of
      a valid target endpoint composition (could-state) due to
      continuous alteration of a target endpoint's composition over
      time.  Configuration drift exists for both hardware components and
      software components.  Typically, the frequency and scale of

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 4]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      configuration drift of software components is significantly higher
      than the configuration drift of hardware components.

   Consumer:  A consumer is a SACM role that is assigned to a SACM
      component that contains functions to receive information from
      other SACM components.

   Control Plane:  Typically used as a term in the context of routing,
      e.g.  [RFC6192].  In the context of SACM, the control plane is an
      architectural component providing common control functions to all
      SACM components, including authentication, authorization,
      capability discovery or negotiation.  The control plane
      orchestrates the flow on the data plane according to guidance and/
      or input from the management plane.  SACM components with
      interfaces to the control plane have knowledge of the capabilities
      of other SACM components within a SACM domain.

   Controller:  A controller is a SACM role that is assigned to a SACM
      component containing control plane functions that manage and
      facilitate information sharing or execute on security functions.
      There are three types of SACM controllers: Broker, Proxy, and
      Repository.  Depending on its type, a controller can also contain
      functions that have interfaces on the data plane.

   Data Confidentiality:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "the property that
      data is not disclosed to system entities unless they have been
      authorized to know the data."

   Data In Motion:  Data that is being transported via a network.  Data
      in motion requires a data model to encode data in order to be
      transported.  Typically, data in motion is serialized
      (marshalling) into a transport encoding by a provider of
      information and deserialized (unmarshalling) by a consumer of
      information.

      SACM architecture and corresponding models focus on data in
      motion.

   Data At Rest:  Data that is stored in a repository.  Data at rest
      requires a data model to encode data in order to be stored.  In
      the context of SACM, data at rest located on a SACM component can
      be provided to other SACM components via discoverable
      capabilities.

      In the context of SACM, data models for data at rest are out of
      scope.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 5]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Data Integrity:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "the property that data has
      not been changed, destroyed, or lost in an unauthorized or
      accidental manner."

   Data Origin:  One or more properties that enable a SACM component to
      identify the SACM component that initially acquired or produced
      data about a (target) endpoint (e.g. via collection from a data
      source).

   Data Plane:  Typically used as a term in the context of routing (and
      used as a synonym for forwarding plane, e.g.  [RFC6192]).  In the
      context of SACM, the data plane is an architectural component
      providing operational functions to enable a SACM component to
      provide and consume SACM statements and therefore SACM content
      (the "payload").  The data plane is used to conduct distributed
      SACM tasks by transporting SACM content using transporting
      encodings and corresponding operations defined by SACM data
      models.

   Data Provenance:  A historical record of the sources, origins and
      evolution of data that is influenced by inputs, entities,
      functions and processes.

   Data Source:  One or more properties that enable a SACM component to
      identify an (target) endpoint that is claimed to be the original
      source of received data.

   Endpoint:  Defined in [RFC5209] as "any computing device that can be
      connected to a network.  Such devices normally are associated with
      a particular link layer address before joining the network and
      potentially an IP address once on the network.  This includes:
      laptops, desktops, servers, cell phones, or any device that may
      have an IP address."

      To further clarify the [RFC5209] definition, an endpoint is any
      physical or virtual device that may have a network address.  Note
      that, network infrastructure devices (e.g. switches, routers,
      firewalls), which fit the definition, are also considered to be
      endpoints within this document.

      Physical endpoints are always composites that are composed of
      hardware components and software components.  Virtual endpoints
      are composed entirely of software components and rely on software
      components that provide functions equivalent to hardware
      components.

      The SACM architecture differentiates two essential categories of
      endpoints: Endpoints whose security posture is intended to be

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 6]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      assessed (target endpoints) and endpoints that are specifically
      excluded from endpoint posture assessment (excluded endpoints).

      Based on the definition of an asset, an endpoint is a type of
      asset.

   Endpoint Attribute:  In the context of SACM, endpoint attributes are
      information elements that describe a characteristic of a target
      endpoint.  Endpoint Attributes typically constitute atomic
      information elements (AVP) that can be bundled into composite
      information elements (e.g. information about a specific network
      interface can be represented via a set of multiple AVP).

   Endpoint Characterization:  The task by which a profile is composed
      out of endpoint attributes that describe the desired or expected
      posture of a type or class of target endpoints or even an
      individual target endpoint.  The result of this task is an
      endpoint profile that is required as guidance for the tasks of
      endpoint classification or posture assessment.

   Endpoint Classification:  The task by which a discovered target
      endpoint is classified.  Endpoint classification requires guidance
      in the form of an endpoint profile, discovery results and
      potentially collection results.  Types, classes or the
      characteristics of an individual target endpoint are defined via
      endpoint profiles.

   Endpoint Management Capability:  An enterprise IT capability managing
      endpoint identity, endpoint information, and associated metadata
      on an ongoing basis.

   Evaluation Task:  The task by which endpoint attributes are
      evaluated.

   Evaluation Result:  The resulting value from having evaluated a set
      of posture attributes.

   Excluded Endpoint:  A specific designation, which is assigned to an
      endpoint that is not supposed to be the subject of a collection
      task (and therefore is not a target endpoint).  Typically but not
      necessarily, endpoints that contain a SACM component (and are
      therefore part of the SACM domain) are designated as excluded
      endpoints.  Target endpoints that contain a SACM component cannot
      be designated as excluded endpoints and are part of the SACM
      domain.

   Expected Endpoint State:  The required state of an endpoint that is
      to be compared against.  Sets of expected endpoint states are

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 7]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      transported as guidance in target endpoint profiles via the
      management plane.  This, for example, can be a policy, but also a
      recorded past state.  An expected state is represented can be
      represented via a atomic information element or an composite
      information element that represents a set of multiple attribute
      value pairs.

   SACM Function:  A behavioral aspect or capacity of a particular SACM
      component, which belies that SACM component's purpose.  For
      example, a SACM function with interfaces on the control plane can
      provide a brokering function to other SACM components.  Via data
      plane interfaces, a function can act as a provider and/or as a
      consumer of information.  SACM functions can be propagated as the
      capabilities of a SACM component and can be discovered by or
      negotiated with other SACM components.

   Guidance:  Input instructions to processes and tasks, such as
      collecting, assessing or reporting.  Guidance influences the
      behavior of a SACM component and is considered content of the
      management plane.  Guidance can be manually or automatically
      generated or provided.  Typically, the tasks that provide guidance
      to SACM components have a low-frequency and tend to be be
      sporadic.  A prominent example of guidance are target endpoint
      profiles, but guidance can have many forms, including:

      Configuration, e.g. a SACM component's name, or a CMDB's IPv6
      address.

      Profiles, e.g. a set of expected states for network behavior
      associated with target endpoints employed by specific users.

      Policies, e.g. an interval to refresh the registration of a SACM
      component, or a list of required capabilities for SACM components
      in a specific location.

   Hardware Component:  Hardware components are the distinguishable
      physical components that compose an endpoint.  The composition of
      an endpoint can be changed over time by adding or removing
      hardware components.  In essence, every physical endpoint is
      potentially a composite of multiple hardware components, typically
      resulting in a hierarchical composition of hardware components.
      The composition of hardware components is based on interconnects
      provided by specific hardware types (e.g. mainboard is a hardware
      type that provides local busses as an interconnect).  In general,
      a hardware component can be distinguished by its serial number.
      Occasionally, hardware components are refered to as power sucking
      aliens.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 8]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Hardware Inventory:  The list of hardware components that compose a
      specific endpoint representing its hardware configuration.

   Hardware Type:  Hardware types define specific and distinguishable
      categories of hardware components that can be part of endpoints,
      e.g.  CPU or 802.11p interface.  Typically, hardware types can be
      distinguished by their vendor assigned names, names of standards
      used, or a model name.

   Information Model:  An information model is an abstract
      representation of data, their properties, relationships between
      data and the operations that can be performed on the data.  While
      there is some overlap with a data model, [RFC3444] distinguishes
      an information model as being protocol and implementation neutral
      whereas a data model would provide such details.  The purpose of
      the SACM information model is to ensure interoperability between
      SACM data models (that are used as transport encoding) and to
      provide a standardized set of information elements for
      communication between SACM components.

   Interaction Model:  For now this is a Place-Holder.  Is an
      interaction model that defines, for example, the operations on the
      control plane, such as registration or SACM component discovery,
      required?

   Internal Collector:  Internal Collector: a collector that runs on a
      target endpoint to acquire information from that target endpoint.
      (TBD: An internal collector is not a SACM component and therefore
      not part of a SACM domain).

   Management Plane:  An architectural component providing common
      functions to steer the behavior of SACM components, e.g. its
      behavior on the control plane.  Prominent examples include:
      modification of the configuration of a SACM component or updating
      a target endpoint profile that resides on an evaluator.  In
      essence, guidance is transported via the management plane.
      Typically, a SACM component can fulfill its purpose without
      continuous input from the management plane.  In contrast, without
      continuous availability of control plane functions a typical SACM
      component could not function properly.  In general, interaction on
      the management plane is less frequent and less regular than on the
      control plane.  Input via the management plane can be manual (e.g.
      via a CLI), or can be automated via management plane functions
      that are part of other SACM components.

   Network Address:  Network addresses are layer specific and follow
      layer specific address schemes.  Each interface of a specific
      layer can be associated with one or more addresses appropriate for

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017                [Page 9]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      that layer.  There is no guarantee that an address is globally
      unique.  In general, there is a scope to an address in which it is
      intended to be unique.

      Examples include: physical Ethernet port with a MAC address, layer
      2 VLAN interface with a MAC address, layer 3 interface with
      multiple IPv6 addresses, layer 3 tunnel ingress or egress with an
      IPv4 address.

   Network Interface:  An endpoint is connected to a network via one or
      more interfaces.  Interfaces can be physical or virtual.
      Interfaces of an endpoint can operate on different layers, most
      prominently what is now commonly called layer 2 and 3.  Within a
      layer, interfaces can be nested.  On layer 2, a root interface is
      typically associated with a physical interface port and nested
      interfaces are virtual interfaces.  In the case of a virtual
      endpoint, a root interface can be a virtual interface.  Virtual
      layer 2 interfaces of one or more endpoints can also constitute an
      aggregated group of links that act as one.  On layer 3, nested
      interfaces typically constitute virtual tunnels or networks.

      Examples include: physical Ethernet port, layer 2 VLAN interface,
      a MC-LAG setup, layer 3 Point-to-Point tunnel ingress or egress.

   Posture:  Defined in [RFC5209] as "configuration and/or status of
      hardware or software on an endpoint as it pertains to an
      organization's security policy."

      This term is used within the scope of SACM to represent the
      configuration and state information that is collected from a
      target endpoint in the form of endpoint attributes (e.g. software/
      hardware inventory, configuration settings, dynamically assigned
      addresses).  This information may constitute one or more posture
      attributes.

   Posture Attributes:  Defined in [RFC5209] as "attributes describing
      the configuration or status (posture) of a feature of the
      endpoint.  A Posture Attribute represents a single property of an
      observed state.  For example, a Posture Attribute might describe
      the version of the operating system installed on the system."

      Within this document this term represents a specific assertion
      about endpoint configuration or state (e.g. configuration setting,
      installed software, hardware) represented via endpoint attributes.
      The phrase "features of the endpoint" highlighted above refers to
      installed software or software components.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 10]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Provider:  A provider is a SACM role that is assigned to a SACM
      component that contains functions to provide information to other
      SACM components.

   Proxy:  A proxy is a specific controller type that provides data
      plane and control plane functions, information, or services on
      behalf of another component, which is not directly participating
      in the SACM architecture.

   Repository:  A repository is a specific controller type that contains
      functions to consume, store and provide information of a
      particular kind - typically data transported on the data plane,
      but potentially also data and metadata from the control and
      management plane.  A single repository may provide the functions
      of more than one specific repository type (i.e. configuration
      baseline repository, assessment results repository, etc.)

   SACM Component:  A component is defined in
      [I-D.ietf-i2nsf-terminology] as "an encapsulation of software that
      communicates using Interfaces.  A Component may be implemented by
      hardware and/or Software, and be represented using a set of
      classes.  In general, a Component encapsulates a set of data
      structures as well as a set of algorithms that implement the
      functions that it provides."

      In the context of SACM, a set of SACM functions composes a SACM
      component.  A SACM component conducts SACM tasks, acting on
      control plane, data plane and/or management plane via
      corresponding SACM interfaces.  SACM defines a set of standard
      components (e.g. a collector, a broker, or a data store).  A SACM
      component contains at least a basic set of control plane functions
      and can contain data plane and management plane functions.  A SACM
      component residing on an endpoint assigns one or more SACM roles
      to the corresponding endpoint due to the SACM functions it is
      composed of.  A SACM component "resides on" an endpoint and an
      endpoint "contains" a SACM component, correspondingly.  For
      example, a SACM component that is composed solely of functions
      that provide information would only take on the role of a
      provider.

   SACM Component Discovery:  The task of brokering appropriate SACM
      components according to their capabilities or roles on reques.

      Input: Query

      Output: a list of SACM components including metadata

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 11]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   SACM Domain:  Endpoints that include a SACM component compose a SACM
      domain.  (To be revised, additional definition content TBD,
      possible dependencies to SACM architecture)

   SACM Interface:  An interface is defined in
      [I-D.ietf-i2nsf-terminology] as "A set of operations one object
      knows it can invoke on, and expose to, another object.  This
      decouples the implementation of the operation from its
      specification.  An interface is a subset of all operations that a
      given object implements.  The same object may have multiple types
      of interfaces to serve different purposes."

      In the context of SACM, SACM Funktions provide SACM Interfaces on
      the management, control, or data plane.  Operations a SACM
      Interface provides are based on corresponding data model defined
      by SACM.  SACM Interfaces are used for communication between SACM
      components.

   SACM Role:  A role is defined in [I-D.ietf-i2nsf-terminology] as "an
      abstraction of a Component that models context-specific views and
      responsibilities of an object as separate role objects that can be
      statically or dynamically attached to (and removed from) the
      object that the role object describes.  This provides three
      important benefits.  First, it enables different behavior to be
      supported by the same Component for different contexts.  Second,
      it enables the behavior of a Component to be adjusted dynamically
      (i.e., at runtime, in response)to changes in context, by using one
      or more Roles to define the behavior desired for each context.
      Third, it decouples the Roles of a Component from the Applications
      that use that Component."

      In the context of SACM, SACM roles are associated with SACM
      components and are defined by the set of functions and interfaces
      a SACM component includes.  There are three SACM roles: provider,
      consumer, and controller.  The roles associated with a SACM
      component are determined by the purpose of the SACM functions and
      corresponding SACM interfaces the SACM component is composed of.

   Security Automation:  The process of which security alerts can be
      automated through the use of different tools to monitor, evaluate
      and analyze endpoint and network traffic for the purposes of
      detecting misconfigurations, misbehaviors or threats.

   Software Package:  A generic software package (e.g. a text editor).

   Software Component:  A software package installed on an endpoint,
      including a unique serial number if present (e.g. a text editor
      associated with a unique license key).

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 12]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Software Instance:  A running instance of the software component
      (e.g. on a multi-user system, one logged-in user has one instance
      of a text editor running and another logged-in user has another
      instance of the same text editor running, or on a single-user
      system, a user could have multiple independent instances of the
      same text editor running).

   Statement:  The output of a provider, e.g. a report or an assertion
      acquired via a collection result from a collector, that includes
      metadata about the data origin and the point in time the statement
      was created at.  A statement can be accompanied by evidence of the
      validity of its metadata.

   Supplicant:  The entity seeking to be authenticated by the Management
      Plane for the purpose of participating in the SACM architecture.

   System Resource:  Defined in [RFC4949] as "data contained in an
      information system; or a service provided by a system; or a system
      capacity, such as processing power or communication bandwidth; or
      an item of system equipment (i.e., hardware, firmware, software,
      or documentation); or a facility that houses system operations and
      equipment.

   Target Endpoint:  A target endpoint is an "endpoint under assessment"
      (even if it is not actively under assessment at all times) or
      "endpoint of interest".  Every endpoint that is not specifically
      designated as an excluded endpoint is a target endpoint.  A target
      endpoint is not part of a SACM domain unless it contains a SACM
      component (e.g. a SACM component that publishes collection results
      coming from an internal collector).

      A target endpoint is similar to a device that is a Target of
      Evaluation (TOE) as defined in Common Criteria.

   Target Endpoint Characterization Record:  A set of endpoint
      attributes about a target endpoint that was encountered in a SACM
      domain, which are associated with a target endpoint by being
      included in the corresponding record.  A characterization record
      is intended to be a representation of an endpoint.  It cannot be
      assured that a record distinctly represents a single target
      endpoint unless a set of one or more endpoint attributes that
      compose a unique set of identifying endpoint attributes are
      included in the record.  Otherwise, the set of identifying
      attributes included in a record can match more than one target
      endpoints, which are - in consequence - indistinguishable to a
      SACM domain until more qualifying endpoint attributes can be
      acquired and added to the record.  A characterization record is
      maintained over time in order to assert that acquired endpoint

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 13]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      attributes are either about an endpoint that was encountered
      before or an endpoint that has not been encountered before in a
      SACM domain.  A characterization record can include, for example,
      acquired configuration, state or observed behavior of a specific
      target endpoint.  Multiple and even conflicting instances of this
      information can be included in a characterization record by using
      timestamps and/or data origins to differentiate them.  The
      endpoint attributes included in a characterization record can be
      used to re-identify a distinct target endpoint over time.  Classes
      or profiles can be associated with a characterization record via
      the Classification Task in order to guide collection, evaluation
      or remediation tasks.

   Target Endpoint Characterization Task:  An ongoing task of
      continuously adding acquired endpoint attributes to a
      corresponding record.  The TE characterization task manages the
      representation of encountered target endpoints in the SACM domain
      in the form of characterization records.  For example, the output
      of a target endpoint discovery task or a collection task can be
      processed by the characterization task and added to the record.
      The TE characterization Task also manages these representations of
      target endpoints encountered in the SACM domain by splitting or
      merging the corresponding records as new or more refined endpoint
      attributes become available.

      Input: discovered target endpoint attributes, endpoint attribute
      collection, existing characterization records

      Output: target endpoint characterization records

   Target Endpoint Classification Task:  The task of associating a class
      from an extensible list of classes with an endpoint
      characterization record.  TE classes function as guidance for
      collection, evaluation, remediation and security posture
      assessment in general.

      Input: endpoint characterization records (without classification),
      guidance (how to classify a record)

      Output: endpoint characterization records (with classification)

   Target Endpoint Discovery Task:  The ongoing task of detecting
      previously unknown interaction of a potential target endpoint in
      the SACM domain.  TE Discovery is not directly targeted at a
      specific target endpoint and therefore an un-targeted task.  SACM
      Components conducting the discovery task as a part of their
      function are typically distributed and located, for example, on
      infrastructure components or collect from those remotely via

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 14]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      appropriate interfaces.  Examples of infrastructure components
      that are of interest to the discovery task include routers,
      switches, VM hosting or VM managing components, AAA servers, or
      servers handling dynamic address distribution.

      Input: endpoint attributes acquired via local or remote interfaces

      Output: endpoint attributes including metadata such as data source
      or data origin

   Target Endpoint Identifier:  The target endpoint discovery task and
      the collection tasks can result in a set of identifying endpoint
      attributes added to a corresponding Characterization Record.  This
      subset of the endpoint attributes included in the record is used
      as a target endpoint identifier, by which a specific target
      endpoint can be referenced.  Depending on the available
      identifying attributes, this reference can be ambiguous and is a
      "best-effort" mechanism.  Every distinct set of identifying
      endpoint attributes can be associated with a target endpoint label
      that is unique in a SACM domain.

   Target Endpoint Label:  An artificially created id that references a
      distinct set of identifying attributes (Target Endpoint
      Identifier).  A target endpoint label is unique in a SACM domain
      and created by a SACM component that provides the appropriate
      function as a capability.

   Target Endpoint Profile:  A bundle of expected or desired
      configurations and states (typically a composition of endpoint
      attribute value pairs) that can be associated with a target
      endpoint.  The corresponding task by which the association with a
      target endpoint takes places is the endpoint classification.  The
      task by which an endpoint profile is created is the endpoint
      characterization.  A type or class of target endpoints is defined
      within a target endpoint profile, e.g. printer, smartphone, or an
      office PC.

   SACM Task:  A SACM task is conducted by one or more SACM functions
      that reside on a SACM component (e.g. a collection task or
      endpoint characterization).  A SACM task can be triggered by other
      operations or functions (e.g. a query from another SACM component
      or an unsolicited push on the data plane due to an ongoing
      subscription).  A task is part of a SACM process chain.  A task
      starts at a given point in time and ends in a deterministic state.
      With the exception of a collection task, a SACM task consumes SACM
      statements provided by other SACM components.  The output of a
      task is a result that can be provided (e.g. published) on the data
      plane.  There following tasks are defined by SACM:

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 15]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      Target Endpoint Discovery

      Target Endpoint Characterization

      Target Endpoint Classification

      Collection

      Evaluation [TBD]

      Information Sharing [TBD]

      SACM Component Discovery

      SACM Component Authentication [TBD]

      SACM Component Authorization [TBD]

      SACM Component Registration [TBD]

   Timestamps :  Defined in [RFC4949] as "with respect to a data object,
      a label or marking in which is recorded the time (time of day or
      other instant of elapsed time) at which the label or marking was
      affixed to the data object" and as "with respect to a recorded
      network event, a data field in which is recorded the time (time of
      day or other instant of elapsed time) at which the event took
      place.".

      This term is used in SACM to describe a recorded point in time at
      which an endpoint attribute is created or updated by a target
      endpoint and observed, transmitted or processed by a SACM
      component.  Timestamps can be created by target endpoints or SACM
      components and are associated with endpoint attributes provided or
      consumed by SACM components.  Outside of the domain of SACM
      components the assurance of correctness of time stamps is
      typically significantly lower than inside a SACM domain.  In
      general, it cannot be simply assumed that the source of time a
      target endpoint uses is synchronized or trustworthy.

   Vulnerability Assessment:  The process of determining whether a set
      of endpoints is vulnerable according to the information contained
      in the vulnerability description information.

   Vulnerability Description Information:  Information pertaining to the
      existence of a flaw or flaws in software, hardware, and/or
      firmware, which could potentially have an adverse impact on
      enterprise IT functionality and/or security.  Vulnerability

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 16]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

      description information should contain enough information to
      support vulnerability detection.

   Vulnerability Detection Data:  A type of guidance extracted from
      vulnerability description information that describes the specific
      mechanisms of vulnerability detection that is used by an
      enterprise's vulnerability management capability to determine if a
      vulnerability is present on an endpoint.

   Vulnerability Management Capability:  An enterprise IT capability
      managing endpoint vulnerabilities and associated metadata on an
      ongoing basis by ingesting vulnerability description information
      and vulnerability detection data, and performing a vulnerability
      assessment.

3.  IANA Considerations

   This memo includes no request to IANA.

4.  Security Considerations

   This memo documents terminology for security automation.  While it is
   about security, it does not affect security.

5.  Acknowledgements

6.  Change Log

   Changes from version 00 to version 01:

   o  Added simple list of terms extracted from UC draft -05.  It is
      expected that comments will be received on this list of terms as
      to whether they should be kept in this document.  Those that are
      kept will be appropriately defined or cited.

   Changes from version 01 to version 02:

   o  Added Vulnerability, Vulnerability Management, xposure,
      Misconfiguration, and Software flaw.

   Changes from version 02 to version 03:

   o  Removed Section 2.1.  Cleaned up some editing nits; broke terms
      into 2 sections (predefined and newly defined terms).  Added some
      of the relevant terms per the proposed list discussed in the IETF
      89 meeting.

   Changes from version 03 to version 04:

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 17]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   o  TODO

   Changes from version 04 to version 05:

   o  TODO

   Changes from version 05 to version 06:

   o  Updated author information.

   o  Combined "Pre-defined Terms" with "New Terms and Definitions".

   o  Removed "Requirements language".

   o  Removed unused reference to use case draft; resulted in removal of
      normative references.

   o  Removed introductory text from Section 1 indicating that this
      document is intended to be temporary.

   o  Added placeholders for missing change log entries.

   Changes from version 06 to version 07:

   o  Added Contributors section.

   o  Updated author list.

   o  Changed title from "Terminology for Security Assessment" to
      "Secure Automation and Continuous Monitoring (SACM) Terminology".

   o  Changed abbrev from "SACM-Terms" to "SACM Terminology".

   o  Added appendix The Attic to stash terms for future updates.

   o  Added Authentication, Authorization, Data Confidentiality, Data
      Integrity, Data Origin, Data Provenance, SACM Component, SACM
      Component Discovery, Target Endpoint Discovery.

   o  Major updates to Building Block, Function, SACM Role, Target
      Endpoint.

   o  Minor updates to Broker, Capability, Collection Task, Evaluation
      Task, Posture.

   o  Relabeled Role to SACM Role, Endpoint Target to Target Endpoint,
      Endpoint Discovery to Endpoint Identification.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 18]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   o  Moved Asset Targeting, Client, Endpoint Identification to The
      Attic.

   o  Endpoint Attributes added as a TODO.

   o  Changed the structure of the Change Log.

   Changes from version 07 to version 08:

   o  Added Assertion, Collection Result, Collector, Excluded Endpoint,
      Internal Collector, Network Address, Network Interface, SACM
      Domain, Statement, Target Endpoint Identifier, Target Endpoint
      Label, Timestamp.

   o  Major updates to Attributes, Broker, Collection Task, Consumer,
      Controller, Control Plane, Endpoint Attributes, Expected Endpoint
      State, SACM Function, Provider, Proxy, Repository, SACM Role,
      Target Endpoint.

   o  Minor updates to Asset, Building Block, Data Origin, Data Source,
      Data Provenance, Endpoint, Management Plane, Posture, Posture
      Attribute, SACM Component, SACM Component Discovery, Target
      Endpoint Discovery.

   o  Relabeled Function to SACM Function.

   Changes from version 08 to version 09:

   o  Updated author list.

   o  Added Data Plane, Endpoint Characterization, Endpoint
      Classification, Guidance, Interaction Model, Software Component,
      Software Instance, Software Package, Statement, Target Endpoint
      Profile, SACM Task.

   o  Removed Building Block.

   o  Major updates to Control Plane, Endpoint Attribute, Expected
      Endpoint State, Information Model, Management Plane.

   o  Minor updates to Attribute, Capabilities, SACM Function, SACM
      Component, Collection Task.

   o  Moved Asset Characterization to The Attic.

   Changes from version 09 to version 10:

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 19]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   o  Added Configuration Drift, Data in Motion, Data at Rest, Endpoint
      Management Capability, Hardware Component, Hardware Inventory,
      Hardware Type, SACM Interface, Target Endpoint Characterization
      Record, Target Endpoint Characterization Task, Target Endpoint
      Classification Task, Target Endpoint Discovery Task, Vulnerability
      Description Information, Vulnerability Detection Data,
      Vulnerability Management Capability, Vulnerability Assessment

   o  Added references to i2nsf definitions in Capability, SACM
      Component, SACM Interface, SACM Role

   o  Added i2nsf Terminology I-D Reference

   o  Major Updates to Endpoint, SACM Task, Target Endpoint Identifier

   o  Minor Updates to Guidance, SACM Component Discovery, Target
      Endpoint Label, Target Endpoint Profile

   o  Relabled SACM Task

   o  Removed Target Endpoint Discovery

7.  Contributors

   John Strassner
   Huawei
   Santa Clara, CA
   USA

   Email: john.sc.strassner@huawei.com

   David Waltermire
   National Institute of Standards and Technology
   100 Bureau Drive
   Gaithersburg, MD  20877
   USA

   Email: david.waltermire@nist.gov

   Adam W. Montville
   Center for Internet Security
   31 Tech Valley Drive
   East Greenbush, NY  12061
   USA

   Email: adam.w.montville@gmail.com

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 20]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   David Harrington
   Effective Software
   50 Harding Rd
   Portsmouth, NH  03801
   USA

   Email: ietfdbh@comcast.net

   Brian Ford
   Lancope
   3650 Brookside Parkway, Suite 500
   Alpharetta, GA  30022
   USA

   Email: bford@lancope.com

   Merike Kaeo
   Double Shot Security
   3518 Fremont Avenue North, Suite 363
   Seattle, WA  98103
   USA

   Email: merike@doubleshotsecurity.com

8.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-i2nsf-terminology]
              Hares, S., Strassner, J., Lopez, D., and L. Xia,
              "Interface to Network Security Functions (I2NSF)
              Terminology", draft-ietf-i2nsf-terminology-00 (work in
              progress), May 2016.

   [RFC3444]  Pras, A. and J. Schoenwaelder, "On the Difference between
              Information Models and Data Models", RFC 3444,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3444, January 2003,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3444>.

   [RFC4949]  Shirey, R., "Internet Security Glossary, Version 2",
              FYI 36, RFC 4949, DOI 10.17487/RFC4949, August 2007,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4949>.

   [RFC5209]  Sangster, P., Khosravi, H., Mani, M., Narayan, K., and J.
              Tardo, "Network Endpoint Assessment (NEA): Overview and
              Requirements", RFC 5209, DOI 10.17487/RFC5209, June 2008,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5209>.

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 21]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   [RFC6192]  Dugal, D., Pignataro, C., and R. Dunn, "Protecting the
              Router Control Plane", RFC 6192, DOI 10.17487/RFC6192,
              March 2011, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6192>.

   [X.1252]   "ITU-T X.1252 (04/2010)", n.d..

Appendix A.  The Attic

   The following terms are stashed for now and will be updated later:

   Asset Characterization:  Asset characterization is the process of
      defining attributes that describe properties of an identified
      asset.

   Asset Targeting:  Asset targeting is the use of asset identification
      and categorization information to drive human-directed, automated
      decision making for data collection and analysis in support of
      endpoint posture assessment.

   Client:  An architectural component receiving services from another
      architectural component.

   Endpoint Identification (TBD per list; was "Endpoint Discovery"):
      The process by which an endpoint can be identified.

Authors' Addresses

   Henk Birkholz
   Fraunhofer SIT
   Rheinstrasse 75
   Darmstadt  64295
   Germany

   Email: henk.birkholz@sit.fraunhofer.de

   Jarrett Lu
   Oracle Corporation
   4180 Network Circle
   Santa Clara, CA  95054
   USA

   Email: jarrett.lu@oracle.com

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 22]
Internet-Draft              SACM Terminology                   July 2016

   Nancy Cam-Winget
   Cisco Systems
   3550 Cisco Way
   San Jose, CA  95134
   USA

   Email: ncamwing@cisco.com

Birkholz, et al.         Expires January 9, 2017               [Page 23]