Definition of End-to-end Encryption
draft-knodel-e2ee-definition-00
Model-T M. Knodel
Internet-Draft CDT
Intended status: Informational F. Baker
Expires: August 26, 2021
O. Kolkman
ISOC
S. Celi
Cloudflare
G. Grover
Centre for Internet and Society
February 22, 2021
Definition of End-to-end Encryption
draft-knodel-e2ee-definition-00
Abstract
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is an application of cryptography in
communications systems between endpoints. E2EE systems are unique in
providing features of confidentiality, integrity and authenticity for
users. Improvements to E2EE strive to maximise the system's security
while balancing usability and availability. Users of E2EE
communications expect trustworthy providers of secure implementations
to respect and protect their right to whisper.
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 https://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 August 26, 2021.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
Knodel, et al. Expires August 26, 2021 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft e2ee February 2021
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(https://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.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Formal definition of end-to-end encryption . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. End-to-end principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. End-to-end encrypted systems design . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1. Necessary features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.2. Optional/desirable features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. End-user expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1. A conversation is confidential . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2. Providers are trustworthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3. Access by a third-party is impossible . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.4. Pattern inference is minimised . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.5. The e2ee system is not compromised . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. Introduction
This document defines end-to-end encryption (E2EE) using three
different dimensions that together comprise a full definition of
E2EE, which can be applied in a variety of contexts.
The first is a formal definition that draws on the basic
understanding of end points and cryptography. The second looks at
E2EE systems from a design perspective, both its fundamental features
and the direction of travel towards improving those features. Lastly
we consider the expectations of the user of E2EE systems.
Show full document text