At the November TAC F2F, we discussed having a matrix of best practices by which to evaluate registered sites to help set expectations and create peer pressure. This is a preliminary set of suggested criteria.
Policy
- Participant Operational Practices (POP)
- (see comment below)
- Appropriate Contacts
- Security Incident Response Policy
- (see comment below)
- IdP Terms of Use (targeted at the user)
- (see the Participation Agreement for basic requirements)
- SP Privacy Policy (targeted at the user)
- included in User Interface Elements in SP Metadata
- Attribute Release Policy
Technical Basics
- Metadata Consumption
- refresh metadata daily
- verify the XML signature
- check the expiration date
- X.509 Certificates in Metadata
- use of self-signed certificates with 2048-bit keys
- no unexpired certificates in metadata
- controlled migration of keys
- User Interface Elements in IdP/SP Metadata
- Requested Attributes in SP Metadata
- SAML V2.0 Support
- IdPs MUST include a TLS-protected endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-Redirect binding
- IdPs MUST support the
urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transientname identifier format - SPs that support SAML V2.0 should indicate so in metadata (be specific)
- SPs MUST include a TLS-protected endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 HTTP-POST binding
- SPs MUST include an encryption key
- SAML V1.1 Support
- IdPs MUST include a TLS-protected endpoint that supports the Shibboleth 1.x AuthnRequest protocol
- IdPs MUST support the
urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:nameIdentifiertransient name identifier format - SPs MUST include a TLS-protected endpoint that supports the SAML V1.1 Browser/POST profile
- SAML V2.0 Enhanced Client or Proxy (ECP) Support
- IdPs MUST include a TLS-protected
endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 SOAP binding - SPs MUST include a TLS-protected endpoint that supports the SAML V2.0 Reverse SOAP (PAOS) binding
- IdPs MUST include a TLS-protected
Operational Maturity
- Maintaining Supported Software
- Operational Compliance with Metadata IOP
- Federation a "First Order" UI
- Discovery
- Choices offered should result in an "acceptable" experience
- Error Handling
- Look and Feel
- Useful Contacts
Maximizing the Federation
- Documented Attribute Release Process
- Support for SAML 2.0 "persistent" NameID or eduPersonTargetedID
- Release of "basic" attributes w/o admin involvement (via consent or otherwise)
Parked Items
- Keys of less than a certain age
- We should consider what, if any, age is actually "too old"
- Full saml2int conformance
- InCommon Implementation Profile conformance
- Could identify "exceptions to conformance" to highlight specific missing capabilities or could break profile into separate features in the matrix