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authorRasmus Dahlberg <rasmus.dahlberg@kau.se>2021-08-10 19:46:24 +0200
committerRasmus Dahlberg <rasmus.dahlberg@kau.se>2021-08-10 19:46:24 +0200
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+Hello
+ * Rasmus Dahlberg (rgdd)
+ * Affiliations
+ * Karlstad University (PhD student)
+ * Mullvad VPN (software engineer)
+
+Purpose of this mini talk - make people aware of sigsum logging
+ * Work-in-progress, still early days
+ * Plenty of opportunity to:
+ * get involved
+ * design
+ * code
+ * apply pattern of transparent logging (pick a use-case)
+ * operate experimental logs and/or witnesses
+ * etc.
+ * shape the project as we move forward
+ * aim: free and open source
+
+The basics
+ * Sigsum, short for "signed checksum"
+ * Sigsum logging is about adding signed checksums into a transparent log
+ * Think of this as Certificate Transparency, but:
+ * s/Certificate/checksum
+ * checksum is the output of a cryptographic hash function
+
+Backdrop and motivation
+ * You can already achieve transparency for cryptographic checksums by piggy-backing on Certificate Transparency
+ * Encode hash into a certificate
+ * Mozilla proposed a form of Binary Transparency this way a while back
+ * https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Binary_Transparency
+ * But could really be <anything> transparency because <anything> is hashed
+ * With sigsum logging you can do this without the runaround of:
+ * first encoding that hash with ASN.1 (as a certificate)
+ * then doing a ping-poing with a certificate authority
+ * and learning about ecosystem specific constructs like
+ * promises of public logging, "SCTs"
+ * eventually you will realize that you are kind of on your own in terms of gossip-audit models
+ * so what you are left with is a weirdly encoded hash and a log that you trust blindly
+ * We try to bring transparency to signed checksums in a more sensible way
+
+It is fair to say that we place a large emphasis on minimalism
+ * Keep it simple
+
+But at the same time, important features shouldn't be left out
+ * E.g., we want features that make log operations less costly and less scary
+ * anti-spam
+ * anti-poison
+ * sharding (helps with log life cycles)
+ * We also want features - or maybe I should say considerations - that facilitate adoption of transparent logging patterns
+ * if your users already download data from a repository or a website, and you want to bring transparency to that data
+ * great, that is the only communication pattern we assume for end-users
+ * "preserved data flows"
+ * few and simple (de)serialization parsers
+ * no cryptographic agility (simplifies protocol, tooling, etc.)
+ * built-in mechanism to ensure a globally consistent log
+ * simpified version of witness cosigning
+ * log is not a party that you trust blindly
+
+Current status
+ * We have a proof of concept up and running (log + witness)
+ * Tooling is basically non-existing
+ * format data with printf, pipe into curl :)
+ * If you have a use-case for transparent logging, or if you want to learn more, or if this sounds like fun and you would like to get involved:
+ * irc: #sigsum @ oftc (the conversation happens here)
+ * talk to me here on gather
+ * our repos are currently on github, contains code and some documentation
+ * github.com/sigsum
+ * www.sigsum.org
+
+(I will also post link to a non-persistent pad with this mini-talk in the chat.)