The Secure Multicast Research Group (SMuG)

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Overview of SMuG

SMuG is an IRTF (Internet Research Task Force) Research Group formed to discuss issues related to multicast security. The IRTF is a sister organization of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Chairs of SMuG

Chairs (IETF42 - IETF50): Thomas Hardjono (Bay Networks) and Ran Canetti (IBM Watson).

SMuG IRTF Charter

There are many different ways of looking at multicast security, and many different security requirements depending on the application. The wide range of views has made it difficult for the IETF community to come to consensus on how to proceed.

The Secure Multicast research Group (SMuG) will focus on the security problems related to IP multicast as deployed for a variety of applications, with the aim of understanding better these problems and formulating security requirements for prominent multicast applications. A first goal of the group is to identify the security requirements of prominent multicast applications, and the properties required from solutions.

The approach to be taken towards designing standardizable solutions is to first define a common and general reference framework from which well-defined functionalities can be defined and expressed in terms of useful building blocks. These building blocks, consisting of functional elements within the reference framework together with the communication protocols interconnecting them, will then be used to construct solutions for prominent multicast applications according to the defined security requirements.

That is, SMuG main goals are to:

1. Identify problems specific to IP multicast security and develop a coherent taxonomy of these problems with their inter-relationships.

2. Identify prominent scenarios that require solutions, partial or comprehensive, and define the security requirements of each of these prominent scenarios.

3. Define and develop a set of functional building-blocks based on a reference framework, each block addressing a well-defined problem from Step 1. Each block should be practical and usable towards providing solutions for the prominent scenarios of Step 2. The blocks should be realizable as independently of each other as possible.

4. Identify building blocks that may constitute components of solutions for the scenarios in Step 2.

SMuG Mailing List

To join the SMuG mailing list, send "subscribe smug" to majordomo@cs.umass.edu

SMuG Mailing List Archive

Secure Multicast mailing list archives

SMuG Meetings

This is the list of past meetings, with minutes and slides of some presentations at the meeting.

SMuG IRTF Drafts

IRTF drafts formally submitted through SMuG and carry the irtf-title. This is the SMuG Reference Framework.

Related Internet Drafts

Related Internet drafts submitted individually or through other Working Groups in the IETF.

Bibliography

Papers and other documents relating to multicast security research.