Electronic Authentication - Subscribers, RAs and CSPs

Subscribers, RAs and CSPs

In the conceptual e-authentication model, a claimant in an authentication protocol is a subscriber to some CSP. At some point, an applicant registers with an RA, which verifies the identity of the applicant, typically through the presentation of paper credentials and by records in databases. This process is called identity proofing. The RA, in turn, vouches for the identity of the applicant (and possibly other verified attributes) to a CSP. The applicant then becomes a subscriber of the CSP. The CSP establishes a mechanism to uniquely identify each subscriber and the associated tokens and credentials issued to that subscriber. There is always a relationship between the RA and CSP. In the simplest and perhaps the most common case, the RA/CSP are separate functions of the same entity. However, an RA might be part of a company or organization that registers subscribers with an independent CSP, or several different CSPs. Therefore a CSP may have an integral RA, or it may have relationships with multiple independent RAs, and an RA may have relationships with different CSPs as well.