5 Things You Should Know About PKI & Organization Security

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PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is the catch-all term for all that gets used for establishing and managing public-key encryption, which is the most common type of internet encryption. PKI remains baked in each web browser used today for securing traffic across the public internet. However, the organizations might also deploy it for securing internal communications and gain access to the connected devices. The public cryptographic keys remain at the core of the PKI and act as its most important concept. 

So, this is all you need to know about what is PKI. Now, let’s move on to the five things you should know about PKI and organization security.

The Way PKI Works

Certificates and keys are the most significant concepts to know when it comes to how PKI works. A key is the long string of bits that helps in encrypting data. For example, if you use the ancient and straightforward Caesar cipher with the number three as a cryptographic key. It would mean that each letter in the message gets replaced by the third letter later in the alphabet. So, A turns into D, and B turns into E. The math behind modern-day encryption is more complex than this matter. Each person in the secured communication has two keys, i.e., public and private.

PKI is essential because it allows you to know whether the person you are exchanging encrypted messages with is actually who they say they are. And the role of certificates comes into play here.

Understanding PKI Certificates

PKI certificates are the documents used as digital passports, which get assigned to all entities that aim to participate in that PKI-secured conversation. It can have a significant amount of data. However, the entity’s public key is one of the essential bits of information that a certificate has. The keys get shared by the mechanism of the certificate. An authentication piece is also present. The certification includes the attestation from the trusted source that the entity is what they claim they are. A certificate authority is a term for the trusted source.

With these concepts in mind, here are the four elements that are a part of the PKI:

• A certificate authority that issues digital certificates
• A registration authority verifies the identity of the ones requesting digital certificates.
• A certificate database to store the metadata and certificates
• A certificate policy outlining the procedures of the PKI

The Ways to Earn PKI Certificates

As is understandable, trust lies at the center of the PKI infrastructure. By sending you the digital certificate, the person tries to make you trust who they say they are, and the certificate lets a trusted third party vouch for them. To know how this factor works, you should consider for a moment about the widespread PKI system present out there: the TLS/SSL protocol. The protocol secures all encrypted HTTP communications. 

For offering TLS-encrypted communication, the website owner has to get a certificate from the certificate authority. Several vendors have set themselves up as certificate authorities. But before they can issue one to you, they need you to prove the website owners in a certain way. For example, when trying to purchase the SSL certification for a site at xyz.com, you might need to send the certificate authority emails from hostmaster@xyz.com. It is a restricted address for that domain name’s management authority.

The Possible Uses of PKI

SSL is the most widespread use of PKI, though it is not the only one. There is a long list of real-world PKI uses, such as:

• Using a recovery key for the encrypted hard drive
• Using database servers for securing internal communications
• Signing the documents
• Email encryptions
• Securing the local networks (for instance, PKI certificates made into the Active Directory of Microsoft can work using the physical keycards storing digital certificates for ensuring that users are who they claim they are)
• Completely secure messaging (for instance, the Signal protocol utilizes PKI)
• Securing access to IoT (internet of things) devices

Significance of PKI for Secure Emailing

PKI is essential for secure email for the exact reason why it is crucial to web traffic. Data flow through the open internet might get easily intercepted and read when it is not encrypted. Also, it is hard to trust the senders who they say to be when there is no way to authenticate their identity. The establishment of the necessary infrastructure is built-in servers and web browsers. 

Things get tricky because emails get accessed through heterogeneous clients. S/MIME is one of the most established and oldest PKI systems to secure emails. PGP is also there because that uses the trust web model. Support for these types of email protectors remains built in the clients like Microsoft Outlook.

Endnote

With cybersecurity getting more complicated by the day and the hackers finding new ways to attack, finding ways to secure organization security is of utmost importance. It is as much of a matter of network protection as it is about keeping the data out of the hacker’s reach. And PKI is right at the heart of cybersecurity.