Digital Certificates

Digital Certificates Definition

• [i] Digital Certificates) - (definition:: An electronic file that acts as digital identification to establish trust and verify identities of a file, user, device, or website) - (subject:: Cybersecurity

Digital Certificates Information

The primary purpose of a certificate is to bind a public encryption key to an identity. This allows the certificate holder to use the associated private key for encryption, decryption, and digital signing operations.

Uses of Digital Certificates

Digital certificates are often used in:

• Public Key Distribution: They provide a secure way to distribute public keys which are essential for asymmetric encryption.
• Identity Verification: Certificates can validate the identity of a user, device, or website, establishing trust.
• Software Integrity: A certificate can be used to verify that the software has not been tampered with during distribution and that it comes from the original source.

Attributes of Digital Certificates

1. Readability Index: Some certificate types are in a human-readable format, others in binary format.
2. Private Key Inclusion: Some certificate types like PKCS 12, include the private key, enabling key backup and recovery.
3. Certificate Encoding: Common encoding formats include DER (binary) and Base64-encoded (human readable).

Other Components of Digital Certificates

Digital Certificates often are managed and distributed through Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and require Digital Signatures.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Definition

• [i] Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)) - (definition:: The framework of policies, procedures and technologies used to manage and distribute digital certificates) - (subject:: Cybersecurity

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Components

• Certificate Authorities (CAs): Trusted entities that issue and manage digital certificates.
• Root CAs: The top-level CAs that are inherently trusted by systems and users.
• Subordinate CAs: CAs that are authorized and trusted by the root CA to issue certificates.
• Certificate Validation: The process of verifying the authenticity and validity of a certificate.

Digital Signatures

Digital Signatures Definition

• [i] Digital Signatures) - (definition:: Using a private and public key pair to provide proof of origin and integrity of data) - (subject:: Cybersecurity

Digital Signatures Example

The process works as follows:

1. The signer uses their private key to encrypt a hash of the data, creating a digital signature.
2. The recipient uses the signer's public key (from their certificate) to decrypt the signature and verify the hash.
3. If the hashes match, the recipient can be confident that the data has not been tampered with and originated from the expected signer.

Digital signatures provide Nonrepudiation, ensuring that a signer cannot deny their involvement.