Data security, user privacy, and information integrity are vital properties of today’s internet Protocols and applications. The application of the internet in commercial activities such as online shopping, banking transactions, and eCommerce has significantly increased the value of critical data. Consequentially, networking protocols and applications have been developed for the purposes of safeguarding essential data through encryption, entity authenticity, and, most importantly, data integrity. However, application developers and protocol designers have always found it difficult to attain these objectives, so they rely on more established security protocols such as TLS and SSL protocol suites. The reason is that these protocols are built on thoroughgoing and excellently-analyzed cryptographic algorithms. Public key infrastructure (PKI) made with the X.509 standard is responsible for authentication. This article provides fine details about X.509 certificates and discusses why they are more condescending than conventional authentication. The X.509 Digital Certificate, What is it? The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards define the format of public key infrastructure certificates. The X.509 certificate is one of the digital certificates based on ITU standards. The certificate employs the PKI infrastructure to verify that a particular public key belongs to a given computer, service, or user. The certificate was first introduced in 1988 alongside the X.500 standards that are widely applicable in electronic delivery services. Since then, the certificate has been widely adapted for use on web-based protocols. So, in one sentence, what is an X.509 certificate? An X.509 certificate refers to a special kind of digital certificate that employs international X.509 …

Continue reading "What is an X.509 Certificate and How Does It Work?"