Question

What are the specific components of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)?

Answer 1

The PKI consists of the following components:

1. The Certificate Authority (CA): This is the party who issues the digital certificates
2. The Digital Certificate: This serves to verify the identity of the certificate holder and is issued by the CA. These digital certificates are typically kept in the local computer of the employee, or even the central server at the place of business or organization
3. The LDAP or X.500 Directories: These are the databases which collect and distribute the digital certificates from the CA
4. The Registration Authority (RA): If the place of business or organization is very large (such as a multinational corporation), this entity usually handles and processes the requests for the required digital certificates and then transmits those requests to the CA to process and create the required digital certificates