Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Summary

In this chapter, I have discussed what a public-key infrastructure (PKI) consists of. Not a hardware device, not a software application, a PKI is a set of services that enable an organization to take advantage of the security inherent in public-key cryptography. The three key benefits to using public-key cryptography are the following:

• Privacy

• Nonrepudiation

• Authentication

What a PKI must provide in conjunction with these cryptographic capabilities are the following services:

• Key management

• Key use

• Key publishing

Key management includes the requesting, creating and publishing of key pairs. It also includes the capability to revoke the keys when they prove to be invalid.

The next step in a successful PKI is the concept of a Certificate Authority ...