What Is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)?

PKI stands for Public Key Infrastructure. It is used by the organizations for a secure and trustworthy environment by the use of digital signature and encryption. For example, when a message is sent by any user, with the help of PKI we can verify the author with the help of a digital signature and can prevent any malicious activity (if someone tries to attempt one).

PKI is generally described as a collection of hardware, software, digital certificates and public keys. For the binding of the public keys with their respective users the PKIs use digital certificates. PKI receives its digital certificate from the Certificate Authority (CA) which ensures the user that the website is trustworthy and secure.  

Development of PKI –  

Developments in PKI were introduced in the year 1970 at the British Intelligence Agency GCHQ by two British engineers namely James Ellis and Clifford Cocks. Since it was developed by the intelligence agency the work was kept secret and was not made available outside until the 1990s. With the introduction of both asymmetric key algorithm and secure key exchange in 1976, secure communication underwent a revolutionary change.  

Working of PKI –  

PKI is a clubbing of cybersecurity and encryption that helps in the prevention of the information shared between the user and the website. The PKI works on two different encrypted keys namely the public and the private key. Whenever a user visits any website a public key is generated and is available to the user but when a connection is made between the user and website in the form of a ‘handshake’, etc. a private key is generated and is kept secret.

While communicating the server uses the private key while the user uses the public key, this process helps in the identity prevention of the user and ensures a secure ecosystem. 

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Created on Dec 25th 2019 12:20. Viewed 238 times.

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