Home
Securing
This section describes security features, including execution control lists, IDs, and TLS.
TLS and S/MIME for clients
Clients can use a Domino® certificate authority (CA) application or a third-party CA to obtain certificates for secure TLS and S/MIME communication.
Setting up Notes® and Internet clients for TLS authentication
You can set up Notes® or other Internet clients for server authentication to encrypt data and authenticate the server identity when connecting to an Internet server. You do not need an Internet certificate if you set up a client for server-only authentication.

Securing
This section describes security features, including execution control lists, IDs, and TLS.
- Overview of Domino security
  Setting up security for your organization is a critical task. Your security infrastructure is critical for protecting your organization's IT resources and assets. As an administrator, you need to give careful consideration to your organization's security requirements before you set up any servers or users. Up-front planning pays off later in minimizing the risks of compromised security.
- Server access for Notes® users, Internet users, and Domino® servers
  To control user and server access to other servers, Domino® uses the settings you specify on the Security tab in the Server document as well as the rules of validation and authentication. If a server validates and authenticates the Notes® user, Internet user, or server, and the settings in the Server document allow access, the user or server is allowed access to the server.
- The database access control list
  Every .NSF database has an access control list (ACL) that specifies the level of access that users and servers have to that database. Although the names of access levels are the same for users and servers, those assigned to users determine the tasks that they can perform in a database, while those assigned to servers determine what information within the database the servers can replicate. Only someone with Manager access can create or modify the ACL.
- Domino® server and Notes® user IDs
  Domino® uses ID files to identify users and to control access to servers. Every Domino server, Notes® certifier, and Notes user must have an ID.
- The execution control list
  You use an execution control list (ECL) to configure workstation data security. An ECL protects user workstations against active content from unknown or suspect sources, and can be configured to limit the action of any active content that does run on workstations.
- Domino® server-based certification authority
  You can set up a Domino® certifier that uses the CA process server task to manage and process certificate requests. The CA process runs as a process on Domino servers that are used to issue certificates. When you set up a Notes® or Internet certifier, you link it to the CA process on the server in order to take advantage of CA process activities. Only one instance of the CA process can run on a server; however, the process can be linked to multiple certifiers.
- TLS security
  Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a security protocol that provides communications privacy and authentication for Domino® server tasks that operate over TCP/IP.
- TLS and S/MIME for clients
  Clients can use a Domino® certificate authority (CA) application or a third-party CA to obtain certificates for secure TLS and S/MIME communication.
  - Setting up Notes® and Internet clients for TLS authentication
    You can set up Notes® or other Internet clients for server authentication to encrypt data and authenticate the server identity when connecting to an Internet server. You do not need an Internet certificate if you set up a client for server-only authentication.
  - Pushing trusted certificates to Notes® clients
    You can create cross-certificates in the Domino® Directory for Internet certifiers and Notes® certifiers and then push the cross-certificates to the Contacts application on Notes clients. The cross-certificates are used to establish client trust of a certifier when accessing servers, reading encrypted S/MIME mail, or installing signed Notes client plug-ins. When you push cross certificates, users are not required to create the cross-certificates or retrieve them from the Domino Directory.
  - Internet certificates for TLS and S/MIME
    Before Internet and Notes® clients can use client authentication or send signed mail, they must have an Internet certificate. To send encrypted mail using S/MIME, they must have the recipient's Internet certificate.
  - Setting up Notes® clients for S/MIME
    You can set up an Notes® client to use S/MIME encryption and electronic signatures when sending mail to other users of mail applications that support S/MIME.
  - Setting up Notes® and Internet clients for TLS client authentication
    You can set up a Notes® or Internet client for client authentication with a server. You cannot use client authentication for SMTP and IIOP connections.
  - Setting up TLS for Notes® or Domino® using SMTP
    A Notes® client or Domino® server can act as an SMTP client when routing mail to an SMTP server. The Notes client or Domino server can use TLS to connect to a Domino server running the SMTP service or to another type of SMTP server. You cannot set up a Notes client or Domino server for TLS client authentication when connecting using SMTP.
  - Using TLS when setting up directory assistance for LDAP directories
    Directory assistance allows you to extend directory services from a server's primary Domino® Directory to other Notes® directories, such as secondary Domino Directories, and to remote LDAP directories. To set up directory assistance, you create a directory assistance database from the DA.NTF template, and then create Directory Assistance documents in the database to configure services for specific directories.
  - OCSP for X.509 certificate revocation checking
    The Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) enables applications to determine the revocation state of an identified certificate. OCSP may be used to satisfy some of the operational requirements of providing more timely revocation information than is possible with certificate revocation lists (CRLs), and may also be used to obtain additional status information. An OCSP client issues a status request to an OCSP responder and suspends acceptance of the certificate in question until the responder provides a response.
- Encryption
  Encryption protects data from unauthorized access.
- Name-and-password authentication for Internet/intranet clients
  Name-and-password authentication, also known as basic password authentication, uses a basic challenge/response protocol to ask users for their names and passwords and then verifies the accuracy of the passwords by checking them against a secure hash of the password stored in Person documents in the Domino® Directory.
- Time-based one-time password (TOTP) authentication
  When users log on to a Domino Web server, you can require that they provide time-based one-time passwords in addition to their user names and passwords.
- Multi-server session-based authentication (single sign-on)
  Multi-server session-based authentication, also known as single sign-on (SSO), allows Web users to log in once to a Domino® or WebSphere® server, and then access any other Domino or WebSphere servers in the same DNS domain that are enabled for single sign-on (SSO) without having to log in again.
- Using Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) to configure federated-identity authentication
  Federated identity is a means of achieving single sign-on, providing user convenience and helping to reduce administrative cost. In Domino® and Notes®, federated identity for user authentication uses the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) standard from OASIS.
- Using OpenID Connect (OIDC) to configure federated-identity authentication
  Federated identity is a means of achieving single sign-on, providing user convenience and helping to reduce administrative cost. One way that client applications can authenticate users is by using an OpenID Connect (OIDC) provider.
- Using a credential store to store credentials
  A Domino® server can use a credential store application as a secure artifact repository. Examples of secure artifacts include authentication credentials and security keys.
- History of supported key sizes in Notes and Domino
  Understand the RSA key sizes supported by Notes® and Domino® from past releases to the current release.

Setting up Notes® and Internet clients for TLS authentication

You can set up Notes® or other Internet clients for server authentication to encrypt data and authenticate the server identity when connecting to an Internet server. You do not need an Internet certificate if you set up a client for server-only authentication.

On the server, TLS is set up on a protocol-by-protocol basis. You can choose to enable TLS on all protocols, or enable TLS on some protocols but not others. For example, you can enable TLS on mail protocols (IMAP, POP3, SMTP) and disable it for HTTP. You must also enable the port for anonymous access; otherwise, Domino® requires an Internet certificate or a name and password from the client.

To access an Internet server using TLS, clients must have:

Software, such as a Web browser or a Notes® client, that supports TLS.
A trusted root certificate from a Domino® or third-party certifier.
(Notes® client only) A cross-certificate created using the trusted root certificate for the Domino® or third-party certifier. The trusted root certificate is no longer necessary after you create a cross-certificate.

Note: Secure transactions are indicated by the use of the term https:// in URLs for TLS-secured sites. A browser user can specify this when initiating a secure transaction. More likely, the user will navigate to a login page, where it is necessary to log in with a name and password in order to access the secure Web page.