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5.11.7 What Is Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)?

Understand how public-key infrastructures establish trust on the Internet. Learn how certificate authorities, digital certificates, certificate revocation, and trust chains enable secure websites, VPNs, secure email, and software updates.

  1. What Is Public-Key Infrastructure?
  2. Why Is PKI Necessary?
  3. What Is a Digital Certificate?
  4. What Is a Certificate Authority?
  5. Why Do We Trust Certificate Authorities?
  6. What Is a Root Certificate?
  7. What Is a Certificate Chain?
  8. What Happens When You Visit a Secure Website?
  9. What Information Does a Certificate Contain?
  10. What Is Certificate Expiration?
  11. What Happens If a Private Key Is Compromised?
  12. What Is Certificate Revocation?
  13. How Are Revoked Certificates Checked?
  14. What Is Mutual Authentication?
  15. What Is an Internal PKI?
  16. Where Is PKI Used?
  17. What Are the Limitations of PKI?
  18. Will PKI Change in the Future?
  19. Why Is Public-Key Infrastructure Important?