June 21, 2012 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) –
GlobalSign,
DigiCert,
Comodo, and
NGINX have joined to form a sponsored development contract in order to enable the NGINX open source web server to support OCSP-stapling.
Through the alliance, the group will aim to further progress the advances in the SSL ecosystem through improvements in privacy, reliability and revocation checking for websites using the NGINX web server. The NGINX server is run by around 70 million sites across the internet with around 25% of the 1,000 websites opting for it.
Igor Sysoev CTO and principal architect at NGINX, exclaimed his delight on the collaboration of the companies. "The team at NGINX is delighted that GlobalSign, DigiCert, and Comodo support the OCSP stapling enhancement to the NGINX webserver," he said.
"We have been continuously working on enhancements to NGINX that increase performance, reliability and security. With improved SSL functionality we expect the vast majority of our customers to share our enthusiasm for increased safety on the Internet."
OCSP is the alternative to Certificate Revocation List (CRL) and offers effecincies which require the user to download large databases of revocation information reflecting the status of its last publication date.
The stapling builds on the basic OCSP by enabling the present of a certificate to deploy the OCSP response to the browser as opposed to it being delivered by the issuing CA.
Through keeping the certificate response within the web host, it enables the browser to receive the same response performance for the certificate status information as it does for the website content.
According to a collective statement by the ensuing companies, GlobalSign, DigiCert, and Comodo by Ryan Hurst the Chief Technology Officer of GlobalSign, the aim of the project is for those using SSL to receive an improved ecosystem.
"By addressing the issues holding back common usage of OCSP, NGINX is contributing toward a unified goal of widespread OCSP adoption across all webservers on the Internet.
“This project is another major initiative where certification authorities are working closely to improve the ecosystem for everyone relying on SSL for a safer, private and more secure Internet experience."
The latest version with OCSP-stapling support will be available in late August 2012. IIS on Microsoft Server 2008 and Apache 2.3.6 already support OCSP-stapling; thus, the enhancements to NGINX mean that nearly all webservers can now deploy this critical technology.
About NGINX
Run by the busiest websites on the Internet, NGINX enables businesses worldwide to match rapidly increasing demand for faster web experience without incurring unnecessary costs in capital investments or time. In almost 10 years of its history, NGINX became key software component of most famous web architectures. Today NGINX serves over 25 percent of the top 1,000 websites, and 70 million of websites overall. Successful online services, transforming and shaping the future of Internet - such as Netflix, Pinterest, CloudFlare, Airbnb, WordPress, GitHub, SoundCloud, Zynga, Eventbrite, Zappos, Media Temple, Heroku, RightScale, Engine Yard, use NGINX as part of their infrastructures.
About GMO GlobalSign
Established in 1996 and as a WebTrust accredited public certificate authority, GlobalSign offers publicly trusted SSL Certificates, EV SSL, Managed SSL Services, S/MIME email security and Code Signing for use on all platforms including mobile devices. Its Trusted Root solution uses the widely embedded GlobalSign Root CA certificates to provide immediate PKI trust for Microsoft Certificate Services and internal PKI, eliminating the costs of using untrusted Root Certificates. Its partnership with Adobe to provide Certified Document Services (CDS) enables secure digitally signed PDF documents, certified transcripts and e-invoices. These core Digital Certificate solutions allow its thousands of authenticated customers to conduct secure online transactions, data transfer, distribution of tamper-proof code, and protection of online identities for secure email and access control. The company has a history of innovation within the online security industry and has offices in the US, UK, Belgium, Japan, and China.
About Comodo
The Comodo companies provide the infrastructure that is essential in enabling enterprises, e-merchants and individual consumers to securely interact and conduct business via the Internet. Continual innovation, a core competence in PKI, and a commitment to reversing the growth of Internet-crime distinguish the Comodo companies as vital players in the Internet's ongoing development. Comodo secures and authenticates online transactions and communications for over 200,000 business customers and have over 35 million installations of their range of desktop security products.
About DigiCert, Inc.
DigiCert is a premier online trust provider of enterprise security solutions with an emphasis on authentication, PKI and high-assurance digital certificates. Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, DigiCert is trusted by a continually growing clientele of more than 50,000 of the world’s leading government, finance, education and Fortune 500® organizations. DigiCert has been recognized for its excellence in customer support and the workplace, and was applauded for its value-added product features with the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award for SSL Certificates.
