Privacy-Enhanced Electronic Mail (pem)

Charter

Chair(s):
     Stephen Kent, kent@bbn.com

Mailing Lists:
     General Discussion:  pem-dev@tis.com
     To Subscribe:  pem-dev-request@tis.com
     Archive:  pem-dev-request@tis.com

Description of Working Group:

     PEM is the outgrowth of work by the Privacy and Security
     Research Group (PSRG) of the IRTF. At the heart of PEM is a set
     of procedures for transforming RFC 822 messages in such a
     fashion as to provide integrity, data origin authenticity, and
     optionally, confidentiality.  PEM may be employed with either
     symmetric or asymmetric cryptographic key distribution
     mechanisms.  Because the asymmetric (public-key) mechanisms are
     better suited to the large scale, heterogeneously administered
     environment characteristic of the Internet, to date only those
     mechanisms have been standardized.  The standard form adopted
     by PEM is largely a profile of the CCITT X.509 (Directory
     Authentication Framework) recommendation.

     PEM is defined by a series of documents.  The first in the
     series defines the message processing procedures.  The second
     defines the public-key certification system adopted for use
     with PEM. The third provides definitions and identifiers for
     various algorithms used by PEM. The fourth defines message
     formats and conventions for user registration, Certificate
     Revocation List (CRL) distribution, etc.  (The first three of
     these were previously issued as RFCs 1113, 1114 and 1115.  All
     documents have been revised and are being issed first as
     Internet Drafts.)

Goals and Milestones:

Done       Submit first, third, and fourth documents as internet drafts

Done       Submit second document as internet draft.

Done       First IETF working group meeting to review internet drafts.

Sep 1991   Submit revised internet drafts based on comments received
           during working group meeting, from pem-dev mailing list, etc.

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Nov 1991   Submit internet drafts to IESG for consideration as Proposed
           Standards.

Ongoing    Revise Proposed Standards and submit to IESG forconsideration
           as Draft Standard, and repeat for consideration as Internet
           Standard.



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