Internet2’s InCommon and XSEDE develop service that provides internationally accepted digital certificates for cyberinfrastructure
Digital certificates accredited by the Interoperable Global Trust Federation (IGTF) are now available to subscribers of Internet2’s InCommon Certificate Service. These certificates enable secure connections between services in XSEDE (the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) and other cyberinfrastructure providers, including Open Science Grid and the European Grid Infrastructure
In contrast to the digital certificates used on web sites, IGTF server certificates secure the distributed computing systems that provide access to supercomputers, data archives, and other research infrastructure. The InCommon IGTF server certificates are an additional option, provided at no additional charge to subscribers, alongside the other certificate types already available. Subscribers should choose the IGTF certificate option when working with IGTF relying parties such as XSEDE.
In October 2012, InCommon and XSEDE members began working together to develop the new InCommon IGTF Server Certification Authority (CA) and obtain the necessary IGTF accreditation to issue internationally accepted digital certificates. Jim Basney led the effort, working closely with Joe St Sauver, who manages the InCommon Certificate Service.
"The new InCommon CA, which provides IGTF server certificates, complements our CILogon CA, which provides IGTF user certificates based on InCommon Federation authentication," said Basney, who is a member of the XSEDE project and a member of the InCommon Technical Advisory Committee.
"Our partnership with InCommon on the IGTF CA service is an example of XSEDE’s continued integration with campus infrastructure,” said Randy Butler, XSEDE’s chief security officer. "The InCommon Certificate Service is developed and sustained by active InCommon participants, providing a stable service for national-scale cyberinfrastructure."
"This joint effort with XSEDE has enabled InCommon to develop another service of value to the research community," said John Krienke, director of trust services at Internet2 and InCommon’s chief operating officer. "The InCommon Certificate Service and InCommon Federation together provide an interoperable framework for authentication of users and servers increasingly relied upon for research collaborations."
For more information, visit https://www.incommon.org/certificates/igtf/
About Internet2’s InCommon
InCommon®, operated by Internet2®, serves the U.S. education and research communities, supporting a common framework of trust services, including the U.S. identity management trust federation for research and education, a community-driven Certificate Service, an Assurance Program providing higher levels of trust, and a multifactor authentication program. InCommon has more than 600 participants serving 7 million individuals at higher education institutions and research organizations, and their sponsored partners. Nearly 300 InCommon participants also subscribe to the InCommon Certificate Service (http://www.incommon.org/certificates/subscribers.cfm
About XSEDE
XSEDE (www.xsede.org) is a virtual organization that provides a dynamic distributed infrastructure, support services, and technical expertise that enable researchers, engineers, and scholars to address the most important and challenging problems facing the nation and world. XSEDE supports a growing collection of advanced computing, high-end visualization, data analysis, and other resources and services. XSEDE is funded by the National Science Foundation.