Root Causes: A PKI and Security Podcast

Digital certificate industry veterans Tim Callan and Jason Soroko explore the issues surrounding digital identity, PKI, and cryptographic connections in today's dynamic and evolving computing world. Best practices in digital certificates are continually under pressure from technology trends, new laws and regulations, cryptographic advances, and the evolution of our computing architectures to be more virtual, agile, ubiquitous, and cloud-based. Jason and Tim (and the occasional guest subject matter expert) will help you stay current on developments in this essential technology platform and to understand the whys and wherefores of popular Public Key Infrastructures.

Episodes

Root Causes 392: Chromium Issues a Quality Ultimatum

June 7, 2024 • 21 mins

In the most recent CA/Browser Forum face-to-face meeting, the Google Chrome root program gave a presentation clearly defining its expectations for quality of incident reporting from CAs with an eye to where many CAs have been failing. We relate Chromium's statements and their significance.

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Root Causes 391: 20 Percent of Web Visits Are PQC Enabled Today

June 4, 2024 • 22 mins

Cloudflare research engineer Bas Westerbaan joins us to share his observations about post-quantum cryptography and what it does in the real world. We talk about the pragmatic needs of moving the internet for PQC and speculate about timelines for availability of PQC certificates.

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Root Causes 390: Chromium Boosts Its Distrust Agility with a New Root Trust Deprecation

May 31, 2024 • 21 mins

A root trust deprecation highlights new Chrome functionality that enables more agile and less disruptive distrust events. We explain the significant of this event.

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Root Causes 389: 2024 RSA Conference Wrap Up

May 28, 2024 • 27 mins

Jason and I do our annual RSA wrap-up. Trending segments include AI, Trust Centers, MFA, PQC, and more.

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Root Causes 388: What Is the WebPKI?

May 22, 2024 • 26 mins

These days we frequently discuss "the WebPKI." But what does that really mean? In this episode we define the term and explain how this definition evolved over time. We give an inventory of a main components of the WebPKI and discuss what's required to become a CA.

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Root Causes 387: What Is the Post-quantum Readiness of HSMs?

May 16, 2024 • 31 mins

We take a deep dive with return guest Bruno Coulliard on HSMs and the role they play in post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

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Root Causes 386: Meta Commits MITM Attack On Its Users

May 13, 2024 • 14 mins

Recent court documents reveal that in 2016 Meta (then Facebook) set up a system to get around encryption and spy on traffic between its users and competing social media platforms. We explain what happened.

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Root Causes 385: Failed Revocation and Wildcard Certificates

May 10, 2024 • 12 mins

We discuss misuse of wildcard certificates, failure to revoke on time, and how these two failures magnify each other.

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Root Causes 384: So What Is a Senior Fellow Anyway?

May 7, 2024 • 7 mins

Jason has a new title, Senior Fellow. In this episode Jason explains what his new focus will be and how this will be good for Root Causes.

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Root Causes 383: Delayed Revocation Events by the Numbers

May 2, 2024 • 25 mins

An epidemic of delayed revocations has infected the public CA community. We track delayed revocations since the beginning of 2021, examine the trend line, and discuss root causes.

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Root Causes 382: Mobile Phone Malware Steals Faces for Access

April 29, 2024 • 11 mins

New malware photographs users' faces to defeat authentication mechanisms. We explain the that biometrics are not "secrets" and discuss the continuing progression of attacks to steal biometrics.

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Root Causes 381: Apple Chip Sideloading Attack Leaks Encryption Keys

April 26, 2024 • 7 mins

A newly revealed side channel attack enables theft of private keys from M-series Apple chips. We explain.

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Root Causes 380: What If Quantum Supremacy Comes Earlier Than We Thought?

April 22, 2024 • 29 mins

Repeat guest Bruno Coulliard gives us an update on the US government's migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). We talk about the challenges to migration, the possibility of a black swan event in achieving quantum supremacy, and what happens if we all respond by pressing the "panic button" at the same time.

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Root Causes 379: AI-generated Fake IDS for KYC

April 18, 2024 • 13 mins

Inexpensive and easily obtained deepfake photographs of IDs, generated by AI, are available online. These pose a problem for KYC initiatives.

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Root Causes 378: Why Are Forced Revocations So Difficult?

April 15, 2024 • 21 mins

In the latest in our ongoing series of discussions of the Bugzilla Bloodbath, we delve deep into the problem of failure to revoke on time and the multiple causes that lead to this ongoing failure. And what to do about them.

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Root Causes 377: Is CPS/Issuance Misalignment a Revocation Event?

April 11, 2024 • 17 mins

If you issue public certificates that are fully compliant except that they do not reflect what your CPS says, are they misissued? Do they require revocation? This is a question with real stakes as we see multiple current instances of a CA denying revocation for that reason. In this episode we explore this issue.

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Root Causes 376: Gartner's New CLM Framework

April 8, 2024 • 19 mins

Gartner has released a new framework for Certificate Lifecycle Management, called the Seven Core Functions of Certificate Automation. We walk through this framework and answer how it fits in with our own Five Pillars of CLM.

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Root Causes 375: What Is Name Space Lifecycle Management?

April 5, 2024 • 27 mins

In this guest episode we discuss name space hygiene with Geir Rasmussen, founder of NodeZro. CNAMEs, SPF, DMARC, name server entries, and other DNS identifiers, left unattended, can expose companies to identity-based attacks. We lay out the steps in addressing name space cleanup.

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Root Causes 374: NIST Cyber Security Framework 2 Released

March 31, 2024 • 14 mins

NIST Cyber Security Framework version 2.0 is released. It includes guidance on identity management and authentication. In this first episode of a series, we describe this framework's basic structure and its effect on industry.

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Root Causes 373: Massive Brand Hijack Subverts More Than 21,000 Domains and Subdomains

March 29, 2024 • 14 mins

A massive name space attack has hijacked more than 21,000 domains and subdomains, including a who's who list of major global brands. This huge and innovative attack takes advantage of inherited trust in abandoned domains. We explain what is happening.

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Root Causes: A PKI and Security Podcast

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Root Causes 392: Chromium Issues a Quality Ultimatum

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Root Causes 391: 20 Percent of Web Visits Are PQC Enabled Today

Root Causes 390: Chromium Boosts Its Distrust Agility with a New Root Trust Deprecation

Root Causes 389: 2024 RSA Conference Wrap Up

Root Causes 388: What Is the WebPKI?

Root Causes 387: What Is the Post-quantum Readiness of HSMs?

Root Causes 386: Meta Commits MITM Attack On Its Users

Root Causes 385: Failed Revocation and Wildcard Certificates

Root Causes 384: So What Is a Senior Fellow Anyway?

Root Causes 383: Delayed Revocation Events by the Numbers

Root Causes 382: Mobile Phone Malware Steals Faces for Access

Root Causes 381: Apple Chip Sideloading Attack Leaks Encryption Keys

Root Causes 380: What If Quantum Supremacy Comes Earlier Than We Thought?

Root Causes 379: AI-generated Fake IDS for KYC

Root Causes 378: Why Are Forced Revocations So Difficult?

Root Causes 377: Is CPS/Issuance Misalignment a Revocation Event?

Root Causes 376: Gartner's New CLM Framework

Root Causes 375: What Is Name Space Lifecycle Management?

Root Causes 374: NIST Cyber Security Framework 2 Released

Root Causes 373: Massive Brand Hijack Subverts More Than 21,000 Domains and Subdomains

Popular Podcasts

Root Causes 392: Chromium Issues a Quality Ultimatum

Root Causes 391: 20 Percent of Web Visits Are PQC Enabled Today