[TLS] Re: Response to CoI Complaints

   I completely agree with Ryan here. These attacks and smears have no place
in the IETF. Deb is a professional and has always acted with integrity.

   This stuff will only discourage people from volunteering for leadership
positions which would be very regrettable.

   regards,

   Dan.

On 7/15/26 6:38 PM, Ryan Hurst wrote:
>
> I have known Deb professionally and through the standards community 
> for more than a decade. She is one of the most hardworking, 
> principled, and public-service-minded people I have encountered in 
> this field.
>
> You may disagree with Deb’s technical conclusions. You may disagree 
> with how she has handled a particular matter as Security Area 
> Director. Those disagreements are legitimate, and the IETF has 
> well-established processes for raising them.
>
> What is not legitimate is turning those disagreements into 
> insinuations about her integrity, loyalty, or professional history. 
> Referring to someone who completed more than 37 years of public 
> service and then retired as having “defected” is not criticism. It is 
> a personal smear, and an especially ugly one.
>
> Deb has spent decades doing difficult, consequential, and often 
> thankless work. In every interaction I have had with her, she has 
> shown up prepared, engaged seriously with the substance, and acted 
> according to her principles even when doing so was difficult or unpopular.
>
> Deb has earned better than this from the community she has served.
>
> Ryan Hurst
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 11:51 AM Deb Cooley <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>     For the record:  I have been a Security Area Director since March
>     2024, that is 2 years and a couple of months.
>
>
>     There have been previous inquiries into my ability to perform the
>     duties of Security Area Director  via the SSHM working group, and
>     as part of complaints against the TLS chairs/AD.  Those have been
>     responded to by the IESG, the artifacts are below:
>
>
>     https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ssh/7KRZCX_bvZWUOG50HqDg_KVT77c/
>
>     https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/iesg/appeals/ (see artifacts
>     125/126, as well as 128/129)
>
>
>     In addition to the artifacts above, I suggest that there might be
>     people for whom I have worked with that could give an opinion on
>     my work ethic and conduct for the last 2 plus years.
>
>
>     The recourse for anyone who doesn’t believe this is a sufficient
>     response is free to take a look at [RFC 8713, Section
>     7](https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8713/#section-7).
>
>
>     Just a couple of minor points:
>
>     1.  Retirement means that I don't work for NSA anymore.  I earn no
>     salary.
>
>     2.  Retired does not mean the same as 'defected'.
>
>     3.  My bio is accurate see here:
>     https://datatracker.ietf.org/person/Deb%20Cooley. 37+ years of
>     service in Cybersecurity which used to be Information Assurance,
>     which used to be Information Security, which used to be COMSEC.
>
>     4.  If you read RFC 9151, read all of it.  Section 6 and 7 have
>     MAY requirements which improve interoperability.  Note that the
>     draft was published in February 2021 when Adrian Farrel was the
>     ISE.  It was reviewed by a noteworthy set of reviewers including
>     the late Jim Schaad.
>
>
>
>     Deb Cooley
>     Sec AD
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>
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-- 
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

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