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Certificates

links: AC2 TOC - X.509 - Index

Definition

Digital certificates are data structures which bind a public key value to a subject (Identity). The binding is asserted by an issuer.

Asymmetric Crypto uses privat/public key pairs where the public key pairs are distributed. So an attacker could just distribute forged public keys. Because of that we need to combine a public key with an identifying information and make this combination tamper resistant.

The certificate contains primarily:

  • Identity and attributes of the subject to be protected.
  • Identity and attributes of the issuer of the certificate.
  • Public key of the subject, used for crypto operations.
  • Signature from an issuer, covering all certificate content. (Tamper resistance)

links: AC2 TOC - X.509 - Index