Security
- Encoding
- Digital signatures
- Certificates
- Encryption
- Compression
Encryption. In using data encryption, a plain-text message can be encoded so it appears as completely random binary data that is very difficult (if not impossible) to transform back to the original message without a secret key. Message is used to refer to any piece of data. A message can consist of ASCII text, a database file, or any data you want to store or transmit securely. Plain text is used to refer to data that has not been encrypted. Cipher text refers to data that has been encrypted. Once a message has been encrypted, it can be stored on nonsecure media or transmitted on a non-secure network and still remain secret. Later, the message can be decrypted into its original form. You have a choice between Private-key (conventional) encryption and Public-Key encryption.
Digital signatures can be used when you have a message that you plan to distribute in plain-text form, and you want the recipients to be able to verify that the message comes from you and that it hasn't been tampered with since it left your hands. Signing a message does not alter the message, it simply generates a digital signature string you can bundle with the message or transmit separately. Digital signatures are generated using public-key signature algorithms. A private key is used to generate the signature, and the corresponding public key is used to validate the signature.
Certificates. The main purpose of the digital certificate is to ensure that the public key contained in the certificate belongs to the entity to which the certificate was issued. Encryption techniques using public and private keys require a public-key infrastructure (PKI) to support the distribution and identification of public keys. Digital certificates package public keys, information about the algorithms used, owner or subject data, the digital signature of a Certificate Authority that has verified the subject data, and a date range during which the certificate can be considered valid. Without certificates, it would be possible to create a new key pair and distribute the public key, claiming that it is the public key for almost anyone. You could send data encrypted with the private key and the public key would be used to decrypt the data, but there would be no assurance that the data was originated by anyone in particular. All the receiver would know is that a valid key pair was used. Certificates are signed by the Certificate Authority (CA) that issues them. In essence, a CA is a commonly trusted third party that is relied upon to verify the matching of public keys to identity, e-mail name, or other such information. The benefits of certificates and CAs occur when two entities both trust the same CA. This allows them to learn each other's public key by exchanging certificates signed by that CA. Once they know each other's public key, they can use them to encrypt data and send it to one another, or to verify the signatures on documents. A certificate shows that a public key stored in the certificate belongs to the subject of that certificate. A CA is responsible for verifying the identity of a requesting entity before issuing a certificate. The CA then signs the certificate using its private key, which is used to verify the certificate. A CA's public keys are distributed in software packages such as Web browsers and operating systems, or they can also be added manually by the user. Software that is designed to take advantage of the PKI maintains a list of CAs that it trusts.
S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) provides a consistent way to send and receive secure MIME data. Based on the popular Internet MIME standard, S/MIME provides the following cryptographic security services for electronic messaging applications: authentication, message integrity and non-repudiation of origin (using digital signatures) and privacy and data security (using encryption). S/MIME can be used by traditional mail user agents (MUAs) to add cryptographic security services to mail that is sent, and to interpret cryptographic security services in mail that is received. However, S/MIME is not restricted to mail; it can be used with any transport mechanism that transports MIME data, such as HTTP. As such, S/MIME takes advantage of the object-based features of MIME and allows secure messages to be exchanged in mixed-transport systems.
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