Public Key Infrastructure Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Key Infrastructure - Case Study Example dly, there is the idea of encryption where encryption algorithms ensure that the communications are secure and that data remain private as it is sent from one computer to another. Finally, through digital signatures, PKI helps to provide non-repudiation. The concept of non-repudiation helps prove that a particular individual performed a certain operation at a certain time (El-Ashqar, 2012). Therefore PKI can be of great benefit to the organization by guaranteeing the quality, source & destination, the timing and privacy of information. The PKI could help in signing the company’s software by providing code signing certificates. This certification is done by the Certification Authority (CA) unit under the PKI which uses its private key to assign a certificate and signs it with the private key for that certificate authority (Zissis & Lekkas, 2013). The CA in this case refers to the company itself which will be involved in issuing and revoking of the digital signatures. In addition to the private key, the CA has its public key which is published. Therefore, the company may take advantage of this process and assign its software products digital certificates. The public key that is used in the authentication of the code signature can be traced back to the root Certification Authority (Zissis & Lekkas, 2013). Clients make use of the root certificate generated by the CA to verify that the signatures have originated from that certificate authority. This will help the user know that a given software product is from t he stated source or company. This will help show the user that the software is authentic and is from the trusted company. Companies have to choose whether to use an external certification authority (CA) or an in-house CA that is controlled by the organization. Each of these approaches has its own merits and drawbacks. First, when it comes to internal CAs, it is easy for the organization to manage since there is no need to consult another party. Internal CAs