PKI Services
Digital Certificates
Here is an overview of how PKI certificates are commonly used across different industries and applications:
- Digital Signatures and Document Security: PKI facilitates the implementation of digital signatures and enhances document security by offering a reliable means to authenticate the identity of the signer and guarantee the integrity of electronic files. Digital signatures play a crucial role in various sectors such as law, finance, and other industries that demand reliable and secure document transmission.
- Secure Web Browsing: PKI plays a central role in ensuring secure web browsing by enabling HTTPS connections, which are vital for online security. Certificate Authorities (CAs) issue SSL/TLS certificates that encrypt and authenticate communication between a user’s web browser and a website server. This essential process guarantees data confidentiality and verifies the authenticity of the website, creating a secure browsing environment for users.
- Secure Email (S/MIME): PKI is vital for securing email communications through encryption and digital signatures. With PKI, users can send encrypted messages for confidentiality and sign their emails for authentication and non-repudiation. Protocols like S/MIME and PGP rely on PKI to ensure secure email communication.
- Code Signing: Code signing plays a critical role by applying digital signatures to software applications. This procedure verifies the authenticity of the publisher and guarantees that the code remains unaltered since signing. Code signing fosters trust among users, assuring them of the software’s integrity and safeguarding their systems against potential malware threats.
- Application-to-Application Authentication: PKI serves as a vital component in securing communication between applications within organizations. PKI certificates facilitate authentication and encryption of data exchanged between applications, guaranteeing that only authorized systems can interact with one another while ensuring the confidentiality of transmitted information. This level of security is crucial for protecting sensitive data and maintaining the integrity of inter-application communication.
- Verified Mark Certificates: VMCs are digital certificates within the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that serve the purpose of authenticating email senders and displaying a verified trademark logo alongside their email messages. They leverage the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) protocol to ensure that recipients can readily identify and have confidence in the sender’s brand.
Current government applications using Netrust Digital Certificates
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
ePassport Solutions: Netrust offers a comprehensive suite of ePassport solutions, including Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA), Document Signer Certificate (DSC), Certificate Revocation List (CRL), and ePassport Validation Solution for border control.
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- Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA): A fundamental technology behind ePassport, the CSCA serves as the national trust point for every country issuing ePassports.
- Document Signer Certificate (DSC): A certificate containing information required to verify the digital signature on an ePassport, which must be validated against the CSCA certificate for the issuing country.
- Certificate Revocation List (CRL): CRLs reflect the revocation status of the country’s DSCs or CSCAs that have been compromised and confirm the absence of revocations for any certificates.
- Border Control – ePassport Validation Solution: A comprehensive solution for securely validating ePassport chips, ensuring proper distribution of country credentials, secure data sourcing, and providing easy-to-understand results for immigration officers.
Netrust is experienced in implementing ePassport Validation Solutions and can offer consulting and well-tested solutions for integration with any country’s Border Control system. Our modular solution includes secure offline Country Signing CA, DSC generation, ePassport Signing Modules, ICAO PKD integration, Country Master List creation, and centrally managed ePassport Validation Modules.
Private Label CA Service: Organizations that are considering implementing PKI as a security solution for a specific group of users often face the crucial choice between investing in an in-house PKI system or utilizing the services of a public Certificate Authority (CA).
What does PKI stand for in cyber security?
In cybersecurity, PKI stands for Public Key Infrastructure. This system is used for the creation, storage, distribution, and revocation of digital certificates. The infrastructure is used to secure and authenticate digital communication and transactions. It’s a crucial element of modern internet security and plays an important role in activities such as encrypted communication, digital signatures, and secure authentication.
What is PKI in firewall?
In the context of a firewall, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is used for secure communications across networks. Firewalls, which serve as a security barrier between an internal network and the wider internet, often utilize PKI for tasks such as:
- VPN Establishment: PKI is used in the establishment of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), ensuring secure and authenticated communication between networks across the internet.
- SSL/TLS Inspection: Some advanced firewalls can use PKI to inspect SSL/TLS encrypted traffic for potential threats. This involves the firewall effectively serving as a trusted intermediary, decrypting, inspecting, and then re-encrypting traffic.
- Client and Server Authentication: Firewalls can use PKI certificates to authenticate devices or users trying to access a network, providing an additional layer of security.
So, while PKI itself is not a feature of a firewall, it’s a critical component in several security functions a firewall may perform.
What is the purpose of PKI certificate?
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates, also known as digital certificates, serve several crucial functions in digital communication and data exchange:
- Authentication: PKI certificates authenticate the identities of parties involved in digital transactions. This helps ensure that the entities (users, computers, networks, or applications) involved are who they claim to be, thus preventing unauthorized access or malicious activity.
- Data Integrity: PKI certificates enable the use of digital signatures, which verify that data has not been altered during transmission. If any changes occur after the signature has been applied, the signature will be invalidated, signaling that the data integrity has been compromised.
- Confidentiality: PKI certificates are used to encrypt data, ensuring its confidentiality. Only the intended recipient, who has the matching private key, can decrypt and access the data. This protects sensitive information from being intercepted or accessed by unauthorized entities.
- Non-Repudiation: PKI certificates provide non-repudiation, which means that a sender cannot deny having sent a message, and a receiver cannot deny having received it. This is crucial in legal and financial contexts, where it’s essential to have irrefutable proof of transactions.
Overall, the purpose of PKI certificates is to facilitate secure and trustworthy digital communications, transactions, and data exchange. They are vital in many areas, including secure email, web HTTPS connections, and VPN access, to name a few.
What is the difference between PKI and digital certificates?
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates are two related components within the broader field of cryptography and secure digital communication. Here’s a simple explanation of how they differ:
- Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): PKI refers to the set of roles, policies, hardware, software, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. It includes a system for issuing digital certificates (known as a Certificate Authority or CA), a database for tracking which certificates have been revoked, a means of verifying the authenticity of certificates, and the cryptographic keys used in the secure communication process.
- Digital Certificates: A digital certificate is a type of digital credential. It’s a document that uses a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity — this can be an individual’s name or the name of a server or organization. The certificate verifies that a particular public key belongs to a certain entity. Digital certificates are issued by a trusted third party, known as a Certificate Authority (CA), which is a key part of the PKI.
In summary, PKI is the framework that establishes and maintains a trustworthy networking environment. It provides key management and enables the use of digital certificates for secure electronic transactions. A digital certificate, on the other hand, is a specific tool within that framework, serving as a digital ID card that vouches for the identity of an individual, server, or organization.
What are three benefits of PKI?
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) brings numerous benefits to the table when it comes to securing digital communications. Here are three major advantages:
- Authentication: PKI plays a crucial role in establishing the identity of the parties involved in a digital transaction. Digital certificates issued under a PKI setup verify the identities of the communicating entities, thus mitigating the risk of impersonation or identity theft.
- Data Integrity: PKI ensures that the data exchanged between two parties remains unaltered during transmission. Through the use of digital signatures, any modification or tampering with the data can be easily detected, thus ensuring the integrity of the data.
- Encryption and Confidentiality: PKI facilitates secure, encrypted communication, protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access and breaches. By using a pair of keys (public and private), data can be encrypted by one key and decrypted by the other, ensuring only the intended recipient can access the information.
Beyond these, PKI also supports non-repudiation (providing evidence of a completed transaction that the involved parties cannot deny), and can greatly enhance regulatory compliance in sectors where data security is mandatory. The combined effect of these benefits is increased trust and confidence in digital transactions, making PKI indispensable in our increasingly digital world.
