What is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)?
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a comprehensive framework of hardware, software, policies, and procedures necessary for managing digital certificates and public keys. It supports technologies like digital signatures and encryption, which are crucial for secure e-commerce and the rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT). PKI enables the establishment of secure, trusted interactions between users, devices, and services, ensuring controlled access to systems, data protection, and transaction accountability.
Introduction to Aretiico's Digital Trust Solutions
In today's interconnected world, secure online interactions are crucial for businesses and individuals alike. Aretiico is at the forefront of ensuring this digital trust in the UK, offering solutions that provide security, reliability, and compliance. Our platform, AretiicoConnect, is designed to offer unparalleled freedom, flexibility, and control, supporting data sovereignty, security, and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI).
Key Services and Technologies
Key & Secrets Management
Aretiico excels in managing keys and secrets, ensuring your encryption processes remain secure and efficient.
Encryption
We offer premier encryption services to safeguard your data's confidentiality and integrity, ensuring it remains secure from unauthorised access and cyber threats.
Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)
Our use of HSMs ensures the physical and logical security of your digital keys, enhancing the robustness of your cryptographic processes.
Signing, Certificates, and Stamping
Aretiico provides complete solutions for digital signing, certificate management, and stamping, guaranteeing the authenticity and integrity of your digital communications.
Challenges in PKI
- Certification Authority (CA) or Root Private Key Theft: A critical security concern involving the theft of private keys that form the trust foundation of a PKI.
- Inadequate Separation of Duties: Proper role segregation is crucial to maintain PKI security and integrity.
- Insufficient Scalability: PKIs must scale to handle increasing numbers of users, devices, and transactions.
- Subversion of Online Certificate Validation: Ensuring the integrity of certificate validation processes is vital for maintaining trust.
- Lack of Trust and Non-Repudiation: It’s essential to ensure that digital actions are trustworthy and cannot be denied by their performers.
Data Protection & Compliance
Aretiico is committed to helping you meet data protection and security regulations in the UK, ensuring your operations are secure and compliant.
Key Compliance Areas:
- PCI DSS Compliance: Protecting payment card data.
- Data Security in the Cloud: Ensuring the security of cloud-based data.
- Internet of Things (IoT): Securing IoT devices and communications.
- Global Compliance: Adhering to data protection laws in EMEA, APAC, and the Americas.
- Zero Trust: Implementing architectures that enhance security.
The Role of Certificate Authorities (CAs)
CAs are crucial in PKIs, issuing digital certificates that verify user identities. Much like passports verify a person’s identity, digital certificates establish trust within a digital ecosystem. Protecting these certificates' authenticity and integrity is vital.
Mitigating CA Risks:
To safeguard against sophisticated attacks, we use physical and logical controls, alongside HSMs, to ensure the integrity of your PKI.
Deploying PKI
PKIs enable the effective use of cryptographic data security technologies, supporting:
- Identity Management
- Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS)
- Document and Transaction Signing
- Application Code Signing
- Time-Stamping
PKIs are essential for secure desktop login, citizen identification, mass transit systems, mobile banking, and IoT device credentialing.
Cryptographic Security
PKIs utilise both asymmetric and symmetric cryptography to safeguard data exchanges between users and devices, ensuring the authenticity, confidentiality, and integrity of transactions.
- Asymmetric cryptography employs key pairs (public and private keys) to enable secure communication.
- Symmetric cryptography, on the other hand, uses a single shared key for both encryption and decryption, providing efficient and fast data protection.
While asymmetric cryptography is generally considered more secure due to its use of two separate keys, symmetric cryptography is often preferred for its speed and efficiency in encrypting large amounts of data.
The Growing Importance of PKIs
As electronic transactions and digital documents become more prevalent, and as Internet-aware devices connect to corporate networks, the role of PKIs has expanded. Modern PKIs support a wide range of applications, users, and devices, adhering to stricter data security regulations and enhancing the security of operating systems and business applications.
