Digital Certificates: Is it really you? Only your CAs--and Secure Computing--know for sure.
The network's expansion beyond the physical boundaries of the office has delivered a new level of openness and access--making it easier than ever to share information with remote workers, customers, and business partners. But with this expansion comes the need for increased security. You need to make sure that the person coming into your network is really who he or she claims to be. At the same time, you want to be protected from impostors--that is, when you log on to your stockbroker's Web site, you want assurance that it really is the stockbroker's site, and not an imposter site set up to steal information.
Enter digital certificates
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is built on digital certificates, which are simply a way of distributing public keys to the
users who need them and to assist in verifying a public key belongs to who you think it belongs to. A digital certificate is
a digitally signed record that binds a user's name to their public key. PKI is a set of technologies and security policies
used to issue, revoke, and manage digital certificates and key pairs within a specific organizational structure. Digital
certificates help ensure positive identity.
This article gives an overview of PKI, public and private keys, digital certificates, and how they all work together. While PKI is an emerging technology that's gaining wide acceptance, security
risks and deployment difficulties remain, such as the distribution of smart cards and readers, which can be expensive and time consuming. The SafeWord® PremierAccess® system from Secure Computing adds strong authentication and role-based access control to PKI applications, as well as provides flexible options that can help speed PKI security roll-outs today.
Visit SECURE COMPUTING's Digital Certificates and PKI user authentication page for more information on digital certificates.
