Electronic Identification Based on OpenID Connect : A Design Proposal

Abstract: Electronic identification is used by an individual to prove who he or she is by electronic means and is normally used for logging in to various services. In Sweden there are a number of different solutions that are developed and provided by different parties. In order to promote and coordinate electronic identification for public services, the Swedish E-identification Board was founded in 2011. The Board has developed a technical framework for integration between the Relying Party and the Identity Provider based on the Security Assertion Markup Language V2.0 (SAML) standard. SAML is a quite old standard that has some limitations complicating an electronic identification solution based on it. A newer competing standard is OpenID Connect, which could be a possible candidate as an alternative to SAML. The objective of this thesis is to determine to what extent it is possible to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and accountability in an electronic identification based on OpenID Connect. To achieve this, a number of requirements for electronic identifications were identified and a design proposal based on OpenID Connect was developed together with a proof-of-concept implementation. The design proposal was evaluated against the requirements, with the final result that an electronic identification based on OpenID Connect could meet the requirements.