Initial Conversational Security Specification

[oskarth]

This should give an overview of how we provide conversational security in Status.

See https://github.com/status-im/specs/blob/master/x6.md for current draft (kudos to @cammellos @pombeirp), as well Adam's initial spec.

The main issue with the current PFS whitepaper is that it treats PFS as a special thing, as opposed to talking about conversational security more generally (this might be more of a naming thing though - in any case it shows that we think of PFS as something (too) special). It's also not clear enough in terms of what guarantees we always make. We might also want to mention aspects like PCS.

As well as general evaluation based on SoK Secure Messaging, see inline doc.

Acceptance criteria

• Someone can read this and implement a Status client (including links to other specs)
• They should clarify what security guarantees the protocol(s) provide and don't provide
• As well as what each protocol/layer requires and provides
• They should be described as orthogonal pieces, so if someone wants a different transport that should ideally require minimal tweaks to the protocols

In terms of who will judge, it'll be 2-3 main groups initially:

• Ourselves in protocol group
• Client implementers (Core, Embark and Nimbus people i.e. status-js and Stratus)
• Core dev calls participants

Questions spec should answer

Security and Privacy

Confidentiality
Integrity
Authentication
Participant Consistency
Destination Validation
Forward Secrecy
Backward Secrecy
Anonymity Preserving
Speaker Consistency
Causality Preserving
Global Transcript
Message Unlinkability
Message Repudiation
Particip. Repudiation
Adoption

Out-of-Order Resilient
Dropped Message Resilient
Asynchronicity
Multi-Device Support
No Additional Service
Group chat

Computational Equality
Trust Equality
Subgroup Messaging
Contractable
Expandable

Example technologies

Trusted servers (mailservers?)
Double ratchet
X3DH
Prekeys

Also note that multidevice fits here, fyi @decanus

[oskarth]

@adambabik @decanus fyi updated

[oskarth]

Connecting with this issue that is related status-im/bigbrother-specs#7 (comment)

[oskarth]

Elaborate more on bid process https://github.com/status-im/status-react/blob/c9994b5d0f72377ec51000541e6b02500f8430f5/src/status_im/utils/clocks.cljs

[oskarth]

Largely done; closing as no longer relevant. If we want to do further QA of specs, I suggest we do this through more specific issues.