Reactive and proactive standardisation of TLS

Abstract

In the development of TLS 1.3, the IETF TLS Working Group has adopted an "analysis-prior-to-deployment" design philosophy. This is in sharp contrast to all previous versions of the protocol. We present an account of the TLS standardisation narrative, examining the differences between the reactive standardisation process for TLS 1.2 and below, and the more proactive standardisation process for TLS 1.3. We explore the possible factors that have contributed to the shift in the TLS WG’s design mindset, considering the protocol analysis tools available, the levels of academic involvement and the incentives governing relevant stakeholders at the time of standardisation. In an attempt to place TLS within the broader realm of standardisation, we perform a comparative analysis of standardisation models and discuss the standardisation of TLS within this context.