authentication

Digital signatures 3: frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Anonymous

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 19:49

PB/INFO/004 (10/06) What is a digital certificate? It is a collection of electronic information, usually containing a statement of the identity of the owner and some additional data. This is generated using cryptography, not to conceal the statement, but to make it hard for anyone other than the owner to forge it. Digital certificates are usually stored as files, either on a computer disk or a smartcard.

Digital signatures 2: signing electronic mail

Anonymous

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 19:49

PB/INFO/003 (06/06) It is relatively easy to create an electronic mail message that appears, superficially at least, to come from someone else. It is therefore useful to be able to ‘sign’ e-mails, as we use ink signatures on paper documents and letters, to give stronger proof of their origin. There are systems that allow such signatures to be created using certificates and certification agencies, however the most commonly used system, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), uses a different approach and terminology.

Public Key Infrastructure and authentication

Anonymous

Friday, February 3, 2012 - 13:49

advisory

multi-site connectivity

VPN

security

PKI

public key infrastructure

authentication

The degree of security of a system is largely governed by the quality of the authentication procedures that are employed. Authentication may be defined as the process by which proof of identity or of integrity is established in response to some form of challenge. This chapter examines authentication methodologies based on asymmetric algorithms and their application to VPNs.