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Assurance - Special Assurance Programs

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Assurance - Special Assurance Programs

1. Old Special Assurance Programs - Legacy Policy

By starting with the Thawte Points removal project, the question arises how to seed CAcert deserts if points are cut off by policies. One of the next steps, once the Thawte points clearing is finished, is the rethinking how the old assurance programs points should be counted. AP defines a max of 50 assurance points someone can gain in one assurance - in a common CAcert assurance the max is 35 pts. So it needs arguments, why an old super-assurance with 150 pts should have more points then a common CAcert assurance with trained CAcert assurers ?

Therefor the Legacy Policy has to be written, to define how the old assurance programs are to bring in compliance with the Assurance policy. eg, cut all assurance points down to 35 assurance points for all "old" assurance programs.

This is an issue for the policy group.

1.1 Old Assurance Program - Super-Assurance

An experienced Assurer receives +50 administrative increase points (to sum up to 200 pts in total). The decision was given by former board members. This allows an assurer in the old days to give an Assuree upto 150 pts. Since AP is in effect, this violates AP definition, that the maximum any Policy and Subpolicy under AP can give a maxium of 50 pts.
SuperAssurers

1.2 Old Assurance Program - Tverify

The Tverify program is a program that automaticly can transfer verification chains from other sources. In the old days, Thawte has running a WoT similar to CAcert's WoT, with Thawte notaries. Thawte had a running server that allows to be contacted for verification requests. This has been implemented into the Tverify program. Other programs started deployment like the CT Magazine and the Austrian Buergerkarte, but never has gone to production. Since end of 2009 CAcert's Tverify program has been shut down mainly caused by the shutdown of the Thawte servers. So therefor the Tverify program is stopped.

1.3 Old Assurance Program - Old TTP program

The "old" TTP program has been stopped caused by lack of a subpolicy under AP. In the meanwhile, a Subsidiary Policy has been written and brought into effect: New TTP-Assisted-Assurance-Policy. But sad, the old program allows points issued upto 150 pts, the new program is limited to 35 Assurance points max per TTP assurance and 2 TTP assurance max. The gap to be filled with the new introduced TOPUP program. The "old" program procedure that has been coded into the Webdb cannot be used for the new program so the Software development process blocks currently the deployment of the new TTP-assisted-assurance program.

2. New Special Assurance Programs

Assurance Policy defines, that for any additional special assurance program a subpolicy has to be written.
This means for seeding the CAcert deserts, where the common CAcert Assurance isn't applicable, the Community has to rethink for special assurance programs, that may replace the old special assurance programs.

One proposal has been made with the

2.1 Nucleus Assurance Program

The Nucleus Assurance Program is a concept, to bring 10 assurer candidates together with 2 senior assurers to a one or two days meeting, educate the potential assurer candidates, pass them through the join process, create certificates, start the assurer challenge, and make the initial assurances. This program works also with 3 experienced assurers. A subpolicy is required for the 2 experienced or senior assurers to add a TOPUP like in the TTP-assisted-subpolicy, to start with temporary 100 assurance points by 2 experienced or senior assurers. PolicyDrafts/PolicyForNucleus

2.2 TTP-assisted-assurance

The TTP-assisted-assurance program has been voted to DRAFT back in 2010 (p20100913), but is still blocked by Software deployment, to deploy the existing policy definitions (TTP-assisted-assurances + TOPUP program) into a running software program under the webdb, so that its possible to enter TTP assurances as defined under the new TTP-assisted-assurance subpolicy.

This blockage isn't very helpful to push out the new TTP-assisted-assurance out to the Community, where no assurers are around.

3. Alternate Programs (to deploy)

In the meanwhile, the community has to deploy programs, that are in compliance to the assurance policy and probably didn't require a subpolicy to be written or to say in other words, that can make use of the existing policies (Face-2-Face assurance works either way).

3.1 Simple face-2-face meetings

The question is:

How can we bring assurers in CAcert deserts?
How can assurees in CAcert deserts can meet assurers all around the world?

First to say: to meet each other, works in both directions

Assurers travels to the assurees
Assurees travels to the assurers

A meeting market-place (a portal) will be helpful to coordinate meetings all around the world.

A portal "Find an Assurer" is under deployment. This portal will offer more. Not only find an assurer.

3.2 Assurance Parties and Local Communities

One of the easiest ways, to increase the assurers base in an area is, to actively search for potential new members and hopefuly for potentialy new assurer candidates.
Once you have interested a group of new potential candidates, you can go to step 2, to plan a meeting (see also 2.1 Nucleus events)
To educate new potential assurer candidates

Try to find local communities, probably with affinity to computer technologies, try to contact them, invite them to a meeting, or go to their meeting.

Try to find schools, education centers, business groups or other social groups and spread the word of CAcert.

Try to build up a private distribution list, so if someone asks for an assurance, you can contact other active assurers and to invite them to a small assurance party.

You have to become active either way.

3.3 Vacations, Business tours

If you're going to vacations in another country or to another city, you can try to contact assurers, to meet them and receiving and giving assurances in a mutual assurance

If you are staying in another area for a business tour for one week, one month, you can try to assist the local assurers to build up an active local community

3.4 Students

Students in foreign countries can try to become prepared by assurers in the city. With assistance in the first steps, upto support at leaving back to your home area. See also 3.10

3.5 Town Twinning

On preparing the ATE Manchester, I've stumbled over the wikipedia site, the Crewe, the town near Manchester has Town Twinnings with a French, a German (a city near where I'm living), and a city from Poland. Maybe, within this Town Twinning program its also possible to prepare a tour in the other city and to assist a local group in the Town Twinning city.

3.6 Priest, Nun, Teachers

Priest, Nun and Teachers often going to far away countries, living there, helping to build-up local infrastructures. This may include CAcert Assurances.

This also relates to the old thought-experiment about the Catholic Church Papa.

Universities

Contact your former professors who learnt you about IT security. Convict him to talk about CAcert in his lecture. Assure him and give him a hand to assure students after lecture.

Teacher training

Create a ready to use teacher training course for a half day or two half days. CAcert assurers can contact the local teacher training organisation to conduct the course. Some other assurers (have to) come at the end for an assuring party. (f.ex. "Go further with e-mail" or "How to put an e-mail in an envelope") * CAcertAtSchool/DE (german only)

3.7 Other groups

There are probably other groups who traveling and living in foreign countries, to be named CAcert deserts. These are probably potential candidates, to become prepared, before living an active area.

Think aloud which occupational groups are traveling to other countries. These are in the focus for the CAcert Assurance programs.

medical profession
dentists
Managers
Technicians

3.8 Conferences

Conferences are often a good meeting place to meet with others and also to make mutual assurances

Try to find events near you. Announce these events under Upcoming Events so other assurers and assurees will find them too and get an idea to find assurers around this event
Try to attend an international event (Cebit, Fosdem, LISA, SFD, FISL, USENIX)
If an event isn't yet announced, add the event to the upcoming events list and try to organize a meeting at the event like we did at Cebit last year (every day at noon in front of hall 2)
Support for organize the event you can get from the events team

3.9 Companies, Organisations

Companies and Organisations are also a good ground base, to push assurances in CAcert deserts.

Since May 2011 the Organisation Assurance area becomes active working. A review of the Organisation Assurance Policy is WIP. This allows companies from other countries to be bootstraped through Organisation Assurance for that related country by the CAcert Assurance and Organisation Assurance program.

A prospective Organisation Assurer for a foreign country probably can also assist in the deployment of the TTP-assisted-assurance program for this country (which TTP's a sufficient for this country?)

3.10 Languages Schools / international students

At a language school with international students (as f.ex. in Brighton, Eastbourne, London, Oxford,… Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne,… Vancouver,… Rouen, La Rochelle, Lyon, Nice,… Barcelona, Alicante, Madrid,… Frankfurt, Düsseldorf,…) most of the teachers become assurer. In alternance, some of them gives every week a free lesson (week 1 what is CAcert, how to get it; week 2 how to become an assurer). Students are encouraged to become assurer, they can be assured by most of the teachers after school. When the language course has finished, they move home and CAcert with them around the world. For students, this are also lessons to improve their listening and understanding skills.

needed: two ready-to-use-presentations/lessons (also without power point) and flyer for schools in understandable non-IT language («for dummies»)

CategoryAssurance