Our world is full of highly developed technology companies. As an average person, we mostly have no idea what software and management are behind the walls of a business. We only see services and products they sell. That’s all we need to know! How cool is it to go to a shop and see all the products like shoes, clothes, phones, and cameras?
We can check them out in real and see if this is what we want. We can as well sit on our couch and scroll through the offers online with a phone or tablet. The even cooler thing is that with view clicks we can order our desired product or device. It will not take much time and with 3 to 4 clicks the order is done.
This is where PKI plays an important role. PKI means public key infrastructure and is a set of software that manages, creates, and renews digital certificates ( also check certificate lifestyle automation ) and is responsible for public-key encryption.
Now you probably wonder, well what should I do with a digital certificate and what do I have to do with public-key encryption. That’s what I first thought as well. A very simple way to explain it is with e-commerce. So, you decided to order the new iPhone. As we know it cost some money and because of this, you want that everything goes smoothly. It should not be a scam where you get part of a fraud. This is where PKI is set in. The company wants the same safety and smooth process like you as their customers.
PKI is a “trust service”. PKI creates, manages, uses, stores, distributes, and renews digital certificates. This certificate proof you and the company as two trusted entities. There are some steps that have to be taken. A certificate authority stores, issues, and signs your digital certificates. A registration authority verifies your identity based on the request you made. Other sectors like the central directory and a certificate management system managing all the things that come along.
Let´s take the iPhone order as an example again. So, you chose the iPhone you want and click “order”. The next step is normally the form where you fill in all your details. With all the verification and identification processes, in the background, there is a digital certificate that is linked to your details. With this, Apple has all the safety that you want to buy this iPhone. The digital certificate plays a role again if you want to log in again because you also want to order some AirPods for yourself. So, in this case, your stored digital certificate will be renewed and with some easy clicks you can log in again.
Generally, we can say that PKI is a system that makes access and identification processes safer and also quicker. This is beneficial for the company and the customer as well. Both want a trusted process and no fraud or scam. PKI does not only play an important role between buyer and company, but it is also vital for the internecine of the company. All software and interactions between staff can be safer and trusted with PKI. PKI has the capabilities of confidentiality, Integrity, and Authenticity which improves every business in the short and long term.
