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Lightship Security Partnership with OpenSSL

OpenSSL is sharing Lightship Security’s latest press release, highlighting the new partnership with the OpenSSL Corporation. Read the full release below:

Lightship Security, an Applus+ Laboratories company and a leading cryptographic security test lab, announces its agreement with the OpenSSL Corporation to provide FIPS 140-3 validation services for the OpenSSL cryptographic library.

The OpenSSL Corporation provides commercial support for users of the OpenSSL Library, a critical component of secure communications in enterprise technologies.

Performance benchmarks dashboard

We would like to announce the release of the OpenSSL Performance Benchmarks Dashboard, designed to track the impact of code changes on performance. The key focus of this dashboard is relative performance so we can assess how various code modifications affect OpenSSL’s performance across versions. This helps ensure that we’re aware of any potential performance impacts in advance, allowing us to maintain or improve efficiency with each update.

You can explore the dashboard here: OpenSSL Performance Benchmarks Dashboard. Additionally, it can be conveniently accessed from the main menu of this site under the “Resources” section.

Post-Quantum Algorithms in OpenSSL

Recently NIST published a number of post-quantum algorithm standards (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA). With these new NIST publications, OpenSSL is now prepared for implementation.

We’ve recently been receiving a lot of questions about these new standards so we wanted to make our position clear:

  • We intend to implement support for these algorithms in our providers in a future version of OpenSSL
  • We are currently putting together our project plans for this, stay tuned for more information regarding timeline
  • We invite qualified and skilled individuals to help us implement these algorithms and integrate them into OpenSSL in accordance with our standards and policies.

From early 2022 a research project made available a test vehicle enabling TLS1.3 and X.509 support for many pre-standard and other experimental post-quantum algorithms via the OpenSSL provider interface, called oqs-provider. Its primary author and maintainer (Michael Baentsch) has now joined the OpenSSL team with the goal to support an efficient, secure, smooth and seamless integration of the now standardised post-quantum algorithms from NIST into the OpenSSL code base. Many lessons learnt from the process of building and integrating oqs-provider into downstream applications will be applied to this process.

OpenSSL 3.4 alpha released

OpenSSL 3.4 alpha 1 has now been made available.

Our Alpha releases are considered feature complete for the release, meaning that between now and the final release, only bug fixes are expected (if any). Notable features of this release are available in CHANGES.md within the source tarball.

Alpha releases are provided to our communities for testing and feedback purposes. If you use OpenSSL, and particularly if you intend to upgrade to OpenSSL 3.4 when it is released, we strongly encourage you to download this alpha release, and test it within whatever quality control mechanisms you have, providing feedback via our GitHub issue page at http://github.com/openssl/openssl/issues, so that we can address any shortcomings prior to the final release

OpenSSL considering TLS 1.0/1.1 deprecation

Recently, OpenSSL proposed the deprecation of TLS 1.0/1.1 and solicited community feedback on the idea.

Feedback on the proposal was generally split down the middle, with half of the respondents indicating immediate depreciation with near-term removal was acceptable, while the remainder of the respondents with affirmative opinions noted that they represent, or know of products whose environment disallowed updating to TLS1.2 or later, and would need to re-enable the deprecated features for the foreseeable future.

Join Our Webinar on Debugging OpenSSL Applications

Debugging is a crucial aspect of developing and maintaining reliable software. However, debugging can become particularly challenging when applications incorporate diverse and complex components like OpenSSL. This webinar is designed to help you navigate these complexities.

Webinar Details:

Date: September 11, 2024
Time: 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Platform: Zoom
Topic: Debugging OpenSSL Applications

Registration Link: Click here to register

What to Expect:

  • Internal Debugging Tools: Learn about the facilities OpenSSL provides to help you gain visibility into its internal behavior, allowing for more effective troubleshooting.
  • External Diagnostic Tools: Explore additional tools that can be integrated with OpenSSL to diagnose and resolve more intricate issues.

For professionals dealing with OpenSSL, mastering these debugging techniques is essential to ensuring the stability and security of their applications.

Join OpenSSL at the ICMC 2024 - Visit Our Exhibit Booth!

OpenSSL is pleased to announce its participation as a Silver Sponsor at the upcoming International Cryptographic Module Conference (ICMC) 2024, taking place from 18th to 20th September. Visit our booth and attend our presentations to discover how we can help each other.

Event Details:

Conference Name: International Cryptographic Module Conference
Dates: 18th - 20th September 2024
Location: DoubleTree by Hilton, San Jose, California
Our Booth Number: 102

OpenSSL 3.4 Alpha release approaching

The freeze date for OpenSSL 3.4 Alpha is rapidly approaching.

Alpha freeze approaching

The freeze date for OpenSSL 3.4 Alpha is rapidly approaching. Planned features are viewable on our 3.4 Planning page. If you have a feature on the planning page, please ensure that your associated PRs are posted, reviewed, and merged prior to the freeze date (Friday, Aug 30, 2024), or it will be postponed until the next release.

New Governance Structure and New Projects under the Mission

As part of our ongoing journey, OpenSSL is evolving to provide more opportunities for engagement that more effectively align with our mission statement and promote our values. OpenSSL is implementing various mechanisms to foster greater community involvement and enable our communities to play a key and active role in the decision-making process.

New Governance Framework

OpenSSL has two independent, co-equal organizations to support the OpenSSL Mission:

This balanced approach ensures that both entities can operate independently and make decisions autonomously.

OpenSSL is hiring - Fundraiser

Note that this position has now been filled and we are no longer accepting applications

OpenSSL is hiring for a Fundraiser to join our team

We are seeking a Fundraiser to join our team. As a Fundraiser at OpenSSL, you will play a vital role in sustaining critical components of internet infrastructure that enable secure communications around the world. In addition to your fundraising role, you must align with and uphold our core values and mission in your every day professional activities. This role will require you to have strong networks and relationships with our various sponsors, customers and communities in order to help us identify and bring on board new sponsors for our project as well as maintain our existing ones. You will also hold significant responsibility for developing our sponsorship and fundraising program in order to ensure that our sponsors are getting good value from their engagement with us whilst at the same time maximizing the resources available to OpenSSL to further develop and expand.