Brooks Shannon

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National 9-1-1 Oversight Body Approves First Subscriber to Secure Interoperability Services

The NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission (NIOC) is pleased to announce it has approved Atos/Eonti as the first subscriber to NIOC’s NG9-1-1 Interoperability Services, marking another step toward secure interoperability in Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) systems.

At the commission’s monthly meeting on July 12, the NIOC authorized Atos/Eonti to operate an Intermediate Certificate Authority (ICA) for the NIOC PSAP Credentialing Agency (PCA) and its Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). 

The standards-based PKI will enable disparate jurisdictions to interoperate their 9-1-1 systems securely and seamlessly with a shared root of trust, using credentials based on ANSI-accredited consensus standards. 

“This is a landmark achievement that reflects the original vision of NG9-1-1 standards, including the NENA i3 standard and the forthcoming NG-PSAP standard,” said Steve McMurrer, Chair of NIOC. “On behalf of all the commission members, I would like to thank our public and private partners for making this possible. The vision of an interoperable, standards-based cybersecurity system has been a key objective of our collective standards work.”

As the first subscriber to the NIOC NG9-1-1 Interoperability Services, Atos is taking proactive steps to deploy secure, interoperable NG9-1-1 systems based on the NENA i3 standard.  “Atos is proud to be the first subscriber to the NIOC NG9-1-1 Interoperability Services along with our partner Eonti. Implementing a resilient and scalable PSAP credentialing/PKI process is critical path as we collectively build out these highly interoperable and vital public safety networks” said Mark Longstaff, Head of Operations for Atos Public Safety. “We are thankful to the NIOC for their partnership and support.”

Eonti, the NIOC PCA PKI registration authority, and DigiCert, the NIOC PCA PKI certificate authority, have worked diligently with the NIOC to make the PCA a reality.  “We are excited to help advance the Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency communications systems, along with our partner DigiCert, to provide the PKI credentials to support secure communications within the NG 9-1-1 ecosystem,” said Eonti President and CEO Oscar Marcia. “We are honored to be part of this significant milestone, and to be trusted by the NIOC and community members to secure the next generation of emergency communication systems,” said Mike Nelson, VP of Digital Trust at DigiCert.

For more information about the NIOC, visit ng911ioc.org.

NIOC Quarterly Public Meeting

In accordance with its bylaws and sunshine policy, the first NIOC meeting of each quarter is a public meeting. Accordingly, the meeting for April 12, 2023 at 12:00 ET will have a portion available to the public, with dedicated time for the public to address the Commission.

Members of the public may join via Zoom: https://nena-org.zoom.us/j/88475105758 with passcode RlVvSEV3cW1yMjcyTGxEZTgvWUJpdz09.

Please note that NIOC may enter executive session to discuss any sensitive topics, such as contractual matters.

You may send any question to admin@ng911ioc.org.

NIOC Announces Publication of PCA Certification Practice Statement, Updated Certificate Policy, and Financial Model

The NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission (NIOC) is pleased to announce the publication of the PSAP Credentialing Agency (PCA) Certification Practice Statement (CPS).  The CPS, per the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is “a statement of the practices that a certification authority (CA) employs in issuing, suspending, revoking, and renewing certificates and providing access to them, in accordance with specific requirements (i.e., requirements specified in [a] Certificate Policy, or requirements specified in a contract for services).”

In concert with the creation and publication of the CPS, the PCA Certificate Policy (CP) has been updated.  The updated CP, version 1.1, may be found along with the CPS at the NIOC Library page at https://ng911ioc.org/library.

Lastly, the NIOC has approved and published an updated version of the Financial Model, version 1.2.3.  The updates clarify that NIOC Operating Expense fees are assessed annually per Tier 2 ICA; subscribers to the NIOC NG9-1-1 Interoperability Services pay the fee per Tier 2 ICA they operate.  The updates also adjust the NIOC Operating Expenses budget by moving $1,375.20 from Technical Consulting to I/T Expenses to account for an unplanned annual expenditure (half of the licensing fees for the NIOC meeting management solution).  The updated Financial Model may be found at at the NIOC Library page at https://ng911ioc.org/library.

The NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission (NIOC) is the independent oversight governance body for the NG9-1-1 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Forest Guide, and other technical-interoperability services necessary for interoperability and security in NG9-1-1. More information is available at ng911ioc.org.

Version 1.0 Validation Policy for the Next Generation 9-1-1 Public Key Infrastructure Now Available

The NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission (NIOC) is pleased to announce completion of Version 1.0 of the NIOC PSAP Credentialing Agency (PCA) Certificate Validation Guidelines for the NG9-1-1 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Otherwise known as the Validation Policy (VP), it is a companion to the PCA Certificate Policy (CP) and contains guidelines for verifying the identity and role of NG9-1-1 certificate requestors. Like a background check, it ensures that these stakeholders in the NG9-1-1 ecosystem, from agencies, to users, to the equipment itself, are who they say they are. This ensures a high level of security and establishes trust in the PKI, both within ESInets and between them. The completion and approval of the VP allows the PCA to move closer to production, and NG9-1-1 closer to its end-state of trusted, interoperable networks.  The NIOC adopted an industry baseline Validation Policy as its foundation to ensure interoperability and the NIOC further collaborated with volunteers from the NENA Development Group Core Services Committee, which is also responsible for other NENA technical standards including i3, to refine the baseline policy into a policy that ensures NG9-1-1 security and interoperability standards are fully considered in NG9-1-1 operations.

“On behalf of the NIOC Commissioners, having this Validation Policy in place is another large milestone towards having secure communications between NG9-1-1 ESInets,” said Rick Blackwell, Chairman of the NIOC.  “Many 9-1-1 SMEs spent countless hours developing a responsible, forward-thinking, i3-compliant policy the entire 9-1-1 community can have faith in.”

The VP contains guidelines that describe how information must be validated prior to issuing certificates within the NG9-1-1 PKI. When stakeholders apply for NG9-1-1 certificates, they provide their names, titles, addresses, roles, and more, describing who they are and for what purpose the certificates will be used – for example, to certify the identity of an agency, user, or NG9-1-1 services and elements. Certificate Authorities or their verified delegates validate the accuracy of the attested information, and only upon confirmation of all submitted information are certificates issued to applicants. The VP was developed with extensive input from the standards-development community and represents hundreds of hours of consensus work. The VP was adapted from the CA/Browser Forum’s Guidelines for the Issuance and Management of Extended Validation Certificates.

The full VP is available here.

The NG9-1-1 Interoperability Oversight Commission (NIOC) is the independent oversight governance body for the NG9-1-1 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Forest Guide, and other technical-interoperability services necessary for interoperability and security in NG9-1-1. More information is available at ng911ioc.org.

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