A Novel Approach for Public Key Infrastructure

Public-key cryptography is fast becoming the foundation for online commerce and other applications that require security and authentication in an open network. The widespread use of public-key cryptography requires a public-key infrastructure to publish and manage public-key values. Without a functioning infrastructure, public-key cryptography is only marginally more useful than traditional, secret- key cryptography. This paper presents a set of characteristics that are common to all public-key infrastructures. These criteria are intended to encapsulate the fundamental issues that arise when dealing with such systems. They can be used both as a "shopping list" for those who need to choose an infrastructure for a particular application, and as a guide for infrastructure developers, that they may be more aware of any compromises or tradeoffs they might make in their work. The characteristics are used to present a survey of current and some proposed infrastructure systems. The criteria reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each system, and indicate where improvements may be required. The characteristics presented here are intended to enhance rather than restrict development in the field. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list, and it is the author's intention to revise these criteria as new ideas emerge.