Certificates

• X.509 standard
• a key guaranteed by a trusted entity, namely, the Certification Authority
• contains the holder's
  • public key
  • credentials related to their rights and privileges
  • information about the guaranteeing authority
  • a time range of validity
• if you accept the guarantor as valid, you can accept the key as valid
• its all about trust

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PKI - Introduction and Overview First presented at ACM SIGUCCS CSMS99, March 8, 1999 Last revised October, 1999 Questions to david_henry@umail.umd.edu