PKI Concepts
The PKI provides asymmetric techniques using two keys: a public key and a private key. There is a certificate hierarchy, which is called the Certificate Authority, that manages, signs, issues, validates, and revokes certificates. Let's first look at the components of the certificate hierarchy. A certificate is known as an X509 certificate.
Certificate Hierarchy
The Certificate Authority (CA) is the ultimate authority as it holds the master key, also known as the root key, for signing all of the certificates that it gives to the Intermediary who issues the certificate to the requester.
Let's look at the CA hierarchy shown in the preceding diagram in more depth:
- Online CA: An internal online CA is always up and running so that people in the company can request a certificate at any time of the day or night. This would not be the case in a government or top-security environment.
- Offline...