Introduction to public key infrastructures

Viac o knihe

The introduction of public key cryptography (PKC) marked a significant advancement in IT security, allowing confidential communication between entities in open networks, particularly the Internet, without prior contact. PKC facilitates unique protection techniques, notably digital signatures, which enhance Internet security by authenticating software downloads and updates. While PKC eliminates the need for prior key exchanges, effective management of private and public keys remains crucial: private keys must stay confidential, and public keys must be verifiably authentic. Therefore, understanding public key infrastructures (PKIs) that manage these key pairs is essential, alongside the mathematical principles of PKC. This book elucidates key concepts of PKIs, covering standards, implementations, and applications. It includes chapters on the motivation for PKI, certificates, trust models, private keys, revocation, validity models, certification service providers, certificate policies, certification paths, and practical PKI aspects. It serves as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in computer science, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, complementing introductory cryptography courses. With basic computer science prerequisites, the book features exercises in each chapter and solutions in an appendix, making it suitable for self-study and a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in aca