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8. Security and Privacy Considerations

Namespace Security​

The definition of a URN namespace needs to account for potential security and privacy issues related to assignment, use, and resolution of names within the URN namespace.

Special Character Handling​

Some URN resolvers might assign special meaning to certain characters in the NSS. Namespace definers must consider these possibilities and provide appropriate guidance.

For further discussion, see Section 6.4.4.

Public Information Declarations​

Nature of Information​

In most cases, URN namespaces provide a way to declare public information.

Security Profile​

Normally, these declarations will have a relatively low security profile. This means:

  • URNs typically do not contain sensitive or confidential information
  • URNs are primarily used for public identification of resources
  • Security depends on external mechanisms, not the URN itself

Spoofing and Misinformation Risks​

Primary Threats​

There is always the danger of "spoofing" and providing misinformation.

Risk Scenarios​

  1. False URNs: Creating URNs that appear legitimate but are actually false
  2. Misleading Resolution: Resolving URNs to incorrect or malicious resources
  3. Namespace Hijacking: Attempting to control or impersonate legitimate namespaces

Mitigation Measures​

Information in these declarations ought to be taken as advisory:

  • Do not blindly trust resources pointed to by URNs
  • Use additional validation mechanisms to confirm resource authenticity
  • Critical applications should implement additional security layers

Privacy Considerations​

Information Disclosure​

URNs themselves may inadvertently leak:

  • Organizational structure information
  • Resource creation time patterns
  • Internal identifier schemes

Best Practices​

Namespace designers should:

  1. Avoid including personally identifiable information (PII) in URNs
  2. Consider metadata that URN structure might reveal
  3. Explicitly document any privacy implications in namespace definitions

Transmission Security​

While URNs themselves do not define transmission mechanisms, when transmitting URNs over networks, consider:

  • Using secure channels (e.g., TLS) to protect transmission
  • Preventing URN tampering during transmission
  • Ensuring integrity and availability of resolution services
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