A public key infrastructure (PKI) is a system for the creation, storage, and distribution of digital certificates which are used to verify that a particular public key belongs to a certain entity
PKI performs encryption directly through the keys that it generates. It works by using two different cryptographic keys: a public key and a private key. Whether these keys are public or private, they encrypt and decrypt secure data. PKI is important because the certificate-based technology helps organizations establish trusted signature, encryption, and identity between people, systems, and things.
Six components of a PKI
• public key.
• private key.
• Certificate Authority.
• Certificate Store.
• Certificate Revocation List.
• Hardware Security Module.
PKI is used in a number of different ways. It’s used in smart card logins, encryption of XML documents, secure email messaging and client system authentications. In all those cases where data security is of paramount importance, PKI is used. The purpose of a PKI is to facilitate the secure electronic transfer of information for a range of network activities such as e-commerce, internet banking and confidential email.
A public-key infrastructure (PKI) is a set of roles, policies, hardware, software and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption.
PKI Management Software, Monitor and assess project progress in real time using portfolios and streamline communication. And it’s the best choice to use PKI Management Software as :
• Manage all certificates, users, and financial information from one centralized account
• Pre-vetted domain and profiles for instant certificate issuance
• Combined financial and billing information
• Granular user permissions/delegated administration to define user roles and privileges within your enterprise
• Automate provisioning with APIs and integrations
The Automatic Certificate Management Environment protocol is a communications protocol for automating interactions between certificate authorities and their users’ web servers, allowing the automated deployment of public key infrastructure at very low cost.
Certificate automation enables you to automate the process of Certificate Signing Request (CSR) generation and installation of your new certificate on your servers. You have complete control to configure and schedule automation activities. You have installed and configured sensors on your network.
These days organizations rely on PKI to manage security through encryption. Specifically, the most common form of encryption used today involves a public key, which anyone can use to encrypt a message, and a private key (also known as a secret key), which only one person should be able to use to decrypt those messages. These keys can be used by people, devices, and applications.
Common examples of PKI today are SSL certificates on websites so that site visitors know they’re sending information to the intended recipient, digital signatures, and authentication. PKI is so important in today’s digital age because there are now millions of applications and connected devices that require certification. Properly authenticating and maintaining certificates for these technologies is essential to keeping our highly connected world secure.
PKI solves many challenges, ranging from the more simple (including the ones PKI first came about to solve) to the more complex (largely new challenges created over the course of time). PKI helps secure our digital world by protecting sensitive data and communications and verifying digital identities. And as the number of connected devices and applications explode, this security continues to grow in importance.