What Is Public-Key Infrastructure Certificate (PKI Certificate)?
What's the difference between a Public-Key Infrastructure certificate and a regular SSL certificate? Well, it's like asking the difference between a horse and a cow. It's not that simple, but for the sake of this article, one is for horses, and one is for cows. A public-key infrastructure (PKI) certificate is a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate that uses the public-key infrastructure for encryption and authentication. It is a specific SSL certificate used in Internet transactions to establish trusted connections over the network. The term "public-key infrastructure" refers to public and private encryption keys. These keys allow you to encrypt information so that only the intended recipient can decrypt it and vice versa—so that only you can translate your encrypted data. The idea behind PKI certificates is that they act as digital ID cards: You take a photo of yourself, and it gets stored on an ID card with your name on it; then, you show that ID card when you want to prove who you are. The problem with this system is that anyone can get their hands on a copy of your ID card—and if they do, they'll know your name. However, if someone were to steal your PKI certificate, all they would be able to do is send encrypted messages that you—and no one else in possession of your certificate—could only decrypt. In a nutshell, public-key infrastructure certificates are like a key to a lock. You've got your safety and key—but if you want to access whatever's inside the lock, you need both. Public-key infrastructure certificates work on the idea of public-key cryptography, just the theory that information can be encrypted using a combination of public and private keys. The public key is used to encrypt data that can then only be decoded with the private key. It makes it impossible for anyone who doesn't have access to your private key to get into your stuff. And since this system relies on trust and verification from a trusted third party (i. e., SSL), it's considered very secure.
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