Lindy P16-IP user manual Certificate, Section, IP Access Configuration & Operation

Section 4 IP Access Configuration & Operation

Certificate

The P16-IP uses the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol for any encrypted network traffic between itself and a connected client. During the connection establishment the P16-IP has to expose its identity to a client using a cryptographic certificate.

This certificate and the underlying secret key is the same for all P16-IP units and certainly will not match the network configuration that will be applied to the P16-IP by its user. The certificate©s underlying secret key is also used for securing the SSL handshake. Hence, this is a security risk (but far better than no encryption at all).

However, it is possible to generate and install a new certificate that is unique for a particular P16-IP. In order to do this, the P16-IP is able to generate a new cryptographic key and the associated Certificate Signing Request (CSR) that needs to be certified by a certification authority (CA). A certification authority verifies that you are the person you claim you are, and signs and issues a SSL certificate to you.

The following steps are necessary to create and install an SSL certificate for the P16-IP:

1.Create an SSL Certificate Signing Request using the panel shown in the screen shot above. You need to fill out a number of fields that are explained on the next page. Once this is done, click on the Create button to initiate the Certificate Signing Request generation. The CSR can be downloaded to your administration machine with the Download CSR button (see the illustration on the next page).

2.Send the saved CSR to a CA for certification. You will get the new certificate from the CA after a more or less complicated traditional authentication process (depending on the CA).

3.Upload the certificate to the P16-IP switch using the Upload button.

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