RFC 3854 (rfc3854) - Page 3 of 15

Securing X

RFC 3854               Securing X.400 with S/MIME              July 2004


1.3.  Definitions

   For the purposes of this document, the following definitions apply.

   ASN.1:             Abstract Syntax Notation One, as defined in
                      ISO/IEC 8824.

   BER:               Basic Encoding Rules for ASN.1, as defined in
                      ISO/IEC 8825-1.

   Certificate:       A type that binds an entity's distinguished name
                      to a public key with a digital signature.

   DER:               Distinguished Encoding Rules for ASN.1, as defined
                      in ISO/IEC 8825-1.

   7-bit data:        Text data with lines less than 998 characters
                      long, where none of the characters have the 8th
                      bit set, and there are no NULL characters.  
                      and  occur only as part of a  end of
                      line delimiter.

   8-bit data:        Text data with lines less than 998 characters, and
                      where none of the characters are NULL characters.
                       and  occur only as part of a  end
                      of line delimiter.

   Binary data:       Arbitrary data.

   Transfer Encoding: A reversible transformation made on data so 8-bit
                      or binary data may be sent via a channel that only
                      transmits 7-bit data.

   Receiving agent:   Software that interprets and processes S/MIME CMS
                      objects.

   Sending agent:     Software that creates S/MIME CMS objects.

   S/MIME agent:      User software that is a receiving agent, a sending
                      agent, or both.

1.4.  Compatibility with Prior Practice of S/MIME

   There are believed to be no existing X.400 implementations that
   support S/MIME version 2.  Further, signed interoperability between
   X.400 and MIME systems that support S/MIME version 2 is not believed





Hoffman, et al.             Standards Track