Public-Key Certificates Problem: With the release of public keys, how does Grean know that the key he has is actually Tim's public key? Solution: Use a trusted third party who will issue a certificate of authenticity. The third party is a certificates authority (ie: VeriSign) who issues a certificate that contains:
So to use a certificate, Grean can ask Brandon for his certificate, and Brandon sends it over. Grean can either trust the certificate or he can go to the Certificates Authority and verify the certificate there. Once everything is ok - the public-key is extracted from the certificate and secure transactions can take place thereafter. This use of public-key certificates and the sytstem that supports the process of certification and verification is called the "public-key infrastructure" Copyright 1997 by Slackers Union. Comments should go to any of the group members. Opinions reflected on this page are by no means opinions of UCSD. Go sue somebody else. Last Modified: June 1, 1997 |