12 Security terms and concepts
Security features
Security terms
CA (Certificate Authority)
A CA is an entity that issues digital certificates (especially X.509 certificates) and vouches for the binding between the data items in a certificate.
CSR (Certificate Signing Request)
A CSR is a message sent from an applicant to a CA in order to apply for issue of a certificate. The CSR contains information identifying the applicant, the public key generated by the applicant and the digital signature of the applicant.
Certificate
A Certificate is the information that binds together a public key with an identity. The certificate can be used to verify that a public key belongs to an individual. The format is defined by the x.509 standard.
CA Certificate
A CA Certificate is the certification that identifies the CA (Certificate Authority) itself and owns its private key. It verifies a certificate issued by the CA.
Digital signature
A Digital signature is a value computed with a cryptographic algorithm and appended to a data object in such a way that any recipient of the data can use the signature to verify the data's origin and integrity.
Public key cryptosystem
A Public key cryptosystem is a modern branch of cryptography in which the algorithms employ a pair of
keys (a public key and a private key) and use a different component of the pair for different steps of the 12 algorithm.
Shared key cryptosystem
A Shared key cryptosystem is a branch of cryptography involving algorithms that use the same key for two different steps of the algorithm (such as encryption and decryption).
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