The anticipated future arrival of cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQCs),
that could undermine the algorithms that underlie the currently most widely used public key algorithms (ECDHE, ECDSA, DH and RSA),
has led to the development and recent standardisation of new “post-quantum” (PQ) algorithms, that are believed to not be vulnerable to CRQC attack.
Two of the first algorithms standardized are ML-KEM (for key agreement) and ML-DSA (for digital signatures).
These algorithms are standardized by NIST in FIPS 203 and FIPS 204. These define the algorithm parameters and how to correctly
perform the necessary mathematical operations, but do not define such details as data formats for public and private keys.
Those details were left to other standards organisations, such as the IETF.
As previously communicated the recent election for the Distributions seat on the
Foundation BAC resulted in a tie between Dmitry Belyavsky (Red Hat) and John
Haxby (Oracle). As a result we will be re-running this election in early January
with just these two candidates. Voting will open on 3rd January 2025 and will
close on 10th January 2025.
The “Distributions” community includes maintainers of operating systems or
significant packages that integrate OpenSSL Foundation and OpenSSL Corporation
projects. If you are involved in an OpenSSL distribution then we encourage you
to sign up to the
community and vote in the second round of the election in January.
Upon certification of the election results by the Election Committee, the OpenSSL Foundation and the OpenSSL Corporation are pleased to announce the official results of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) elections. After a thorough nomination and voting process, the OpenSSL community has selected a group of distinguished individuals to provide guidance and advice to OpenSSL.
Newly Elected Members
The following candidates have been elected to serve on the Business Advisory Committee:
Thank you to everyone who registered, as well as those who took the extra step to nominate candidates, for the Business Advisory Committees of the OpenSSL Foundation and OpenSSL Corporation. We are now at the final step - voting - which is essential to complete the process.
Start Date: December 5, 2024 Deadline for Voting: December 15, 2024 11:59pm Pacific Time (US/ Canada)
Election Committee
The Election Committee is composed of the directors of the OpenSSL Foundation and the OpenSSL Corporation. This marks the first inaugural Election Committee, tasked with overseeing and managing the election processes across various communities. The committee is dedicated to ensuring that voting is conducted fairly, transparently, and in alignment with the established rules and procedures.
Thank you to everyone who attended our Q&A sessions about the formation of Business Advisory Committees. We received valuable input from our communities, including requests to allow more time for nominations.
We have heard you, and we would like to announce that:
The nomination period has been extended until Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
The election period starts on Thursday, December 5, 2024 and ends on Sunday, December 15, 2024. You can change your vote up to the end of the election period.
This extension provides additional time to ensure everyone has the opportunity to nominate the individuals who can best represent the community’ s view and needs.
The OpenSSL Foundation and the OpenSSL Corporation are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the inaugural meeting with Bouncy Castle and cryptlib, two newly integrated projects under the OpenSSL Mission. This meeting represents a pivotal step in the evolution of OpenSSL’s governance structure, as outlined in the recent organizational changes, and reflects a deepened commitment to advancing privacy and security.
Bouncy Castle and cryptlib reaffirmed their alignment with the OpenSSL Mission and Values. The discussions focused on their involvement with OpenSSL Projects, and the specifics of how they will leverage the OpenSSL Foundation and the OpenSSL Corporation for their particular needs, such as shared engineering resources or access to performance test infrastructure.
We are thrilled to announce a major leap forward in our efforts to connect with the community and share valuable insights—OpenSSL now has its own YouTube channel! As a significant milestone in our commitment to transparency, education, and open-source collaboration, this channel will serve as a hub for engaging content, tutorials, and updates straight from the heart of OpenSSL.
What to Expect:
Tutorial Series:
Get ready for in-depth tutorials covering a wide range of topics, from OpenSSL basics to advanced usage scenarios. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting, our tutorials will cater to all skill levels.
We are thrilled to announce a special celebration in honor of OpenSSL’s 25th anniversary! Two and a half decades of commitment to security, reliability, and open-source collaboration have made OpenSSL an indispensable tool in the world of digital communication.
To express our gratitude to the incredible community that has supported us throughout the years, we are hosting an exclusive T-Shirt Giveaway! The first 75 people to participate will receive a limited edition OpenSSL 25th-anniversary T-shirt as a token of our appreciation.
After extensive feedback from our communities, OpenSSL is pleased to announce that we have formally adopted the Mission and Values Statement, and will now be aligning our activities to support these.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those who provided feedback to us. We have reviewed all the comments and responses, which showed that a clear majority (around 70%) agreed on OpenSSL adopting the Mission and Values Statement. It was really beneficial to hear from our various communities and we will continue to seek out your feedback in the future.
OpenSSL would like to thank everyone who has provided feedback on our draft
mission & values statement.
The response has been great, and the feedback is really important to us. We are
working through those responses.
We’d like to get even more feedback so we are extending the response
period until 19th May 2023.
If you haven’t already provided feedback to us, please do so by:
As a small incentive we will be randomly selecting 10 responders out of
everyone who has provided feedback and the lucky ones will receive an OpenSSL
T-shirt. (Yes this includes those who have already responded to us).