PKI certificates are a kind of documents, which acts as digital passports, which are generally assigned to any organization that wants to join PKI Management Software conversation. Also, they will include plenty of data and the important thing is the certificate includes is entity’s public key: this certificate is a mechanism by which the key gets shared. However, there is an authentication piece. The certificate includes attestation from the trusted source that the entity is what it claims to be. This trusted source is known as the certificate authority.
Use of PKI
SSL can be the highly widespread implementation of Public Key Infrastructure, but it is not the only one. Here is the list of PKI applications, which includes:
- Securing communications with the database servers
- Offering recovery key for the encrypted hard drive
- Securing local networks
- Signing documents
- Email encryption
- Secure messaging
- And more
The comprehensive PKI should implement the following items:
- Certificate repository
- Public key certificates
- Key backup & recovery
- Certificate revocation
- Automatic update of the key pairs & certificates
- Support for the non-repudiation of signatures
- Support for the cross-certification
- Client-side interacting in safe, consistent & trustworthy way
- Management of the key histories
Only the comprehensive PKI will achieve this goal of establishing & maintaining a trustworthy networking environment, whereas offering a transparent and automatic system, which can be re-used.
The common applications of the PKI include WiFi authentication, web app authentication, VPN, and email security. Here we are going to demonstrate how all of them get tied to PKI.
VPN Authentication:
The certificates are used to authenticate the users for any VPN access. As VPNs will grant access to critical information, the certificates are the most preferred way of authentication on passwords. Generally, the Root or Intermediate CA gets stored on a Firewall and when the user gets authenticated, the safe tunnel is made to access this network that the user is accessing.
Wi-Fi Authentication
The users with the certificate signed by a trusted CA will connect to secure SSID & get authenticated by the RADIUS server by using EAP-TLS. This authentication encrypts data that is sent over it & protects from attacks. This certificate is sent & RADIUS confirms the identity, creating a trust that gets secure network access.
Web App Authentication
Just like Wi-Fi authentication, the user connecting to the web app may have the identity confirmed by the web app server. As the certificate gets signed by a trusted CA, they can get access to their application.
Important Role of the Certificates in PKI
The certificates are a gatekeeper in ensuring that underlying PKI works in the right way. We have covered how the certificates are linked to the Public Key Cryptography procedure– now, let us take a close look at the anatomy of the digital certificate.
Manage & automate PKI, keys, and certificates
CA offers much-required trust for the whole PKI framework. Many major CAs can be trusted over the world to offer authenticity to the certificate’s signed keys.