Glossary of PKI Terms

A

Asymmetric Cryptography

In this Cryptography a Key Pair - Private and Public Key is used. Private Key is kept secret and the Public Key is Widely distrbuted.

C

Certificate Authority (CA)
(CA)

Issuer of the Digital Certificate. Also validates the Identity of the End-Entity that posseses the Digital Certificate.

Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
(CSR)

Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is what you send to a Certifiate Authority (CA) to get enrolled. A CSR contains the Public Key of the End-Entity that is a requesting the Digital Certificate.

Common Name (CN)
(CN)

Common Name is the name of the End-Entity e.g. Saqib Ali. If the End-Entity is a WebServer the CN is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the WebServer

D

Digital Certificate

Public Key of the End-Entity + the identifying information of the End-Entity (owner of the Public Key). It certifies the Identity of the owner (End-Entity). It is signed by Issuing CA.

Digital Signature

A Digital Signature is created by signing the Message Digest using the Private Key. It ensures the Identity of the Sender, and the Integrity of the Data.

E

End-Entity

An entity that participates in the PKI. Usually a Server, Service, Router, or a Person. A CA is not a End-Entity. An RA is an End-Entity to the CA

P

Private Key

Private Key is the Key in Asymmetric Cryptography that is kept secret by the owner (End-Entity). Can be used for encryption or decryption

Public Key

Public Key is the Key in Asymmetric Cryptography that is widely distributed. Can be used for encryption or decryption

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
(PKI)

Public Key Infrastructure

S

Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
(SSL)

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a security protocol that provides authentication (Digital Certificate), confidentiality (encryption), and data integrity (Message Digest - MD5, SHA etc).

Symmetric Cryptography

In this cryptography the message the encrypted and decrypted by the same key. (((n^2-n))/2) keys are required for n users who want to participate in this system of cryptography.