| PKI for Beginners |
 |
 |
We live in a world of computers and electronic networks. Governments and
businesses rely heavily on computerized processes for most, if not all, of their
day-to-day activities. Citizens sending e-mails from their home computers, head
offices communicating with branch plants, and nations sharing critical
information all contribute to the sky-rocketing increase in Internet usage.
To realize the full potential of the Internet and other networks, we need to
know we can engage in electronic transactions with the same degree of trust we
associate with paper-based transactions. Sealed envelopes, official stationery,
written signatures and trusted delivery services provide confidence in
traditional communications.
In the new digital environment, a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) ensures
that sensitive electronic communications are private and protected from
tampering. It provides assurances in the identities of the participants in those
transactions, and prevents their later denying participating in the transaction.
Using digital signatures, encryption and decryption (data scrambling and
unscrambling) technologies and a comprehensive framework of policies and
procedures, a PKI:
- protects privacy by ensuring that electronic communications are not
intercepted and read by unauthorized persons
- assures the integrity of electronic communications by ensuring that they
are not altered during transmission
- verifies the identity of the parties involved in an electronic
transmission
- ensures that no party involved in an electronic transaction can deny their
involvement in the transaction
Best of all, a PKI delivers these assurances through a simple mouse click in
a process transparent to the user.
|
