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Frequently
Asked Questions
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What is a digital certificate?
Digital certificates function as electronic credentials that allow
secure communications between two parties. Digital certificates
help identify and encrypt electronic messages over networks like
the Internet, company intranets or extranets. A digital certificate
attaches the holders identity to a unique pair of software keys:
a private key and a public key.
What is a Private Key?
A private key is one-half of a key pair that is only available to
a defined user. Data encrypted with a user's public key can only
be decrypted with the same user's private key. The private key is
always kept private.
What is a Public Key?
A public key is one-half of a key pair that is available to the
public, and can be listed in public directories. Data encrypted
with a user's public key can only be decrypted with the same user's
private key. The public key is made available to the public.
What do digital certificates allow you to do?
Digital certificates allow you to verify your identity, privileges
or relationship to another party in an online transaction. When
used in combination with encryption, they also allow you to encrypt
information that you send to another person to provide additional
assurance that only the intended party can access the data and that
the data will not be compromised en route. Digital certificates
facilitate these security measures, which in turn allow applications
like e-mail, online trading, and credit card purchasing, to be executed
in a more secure environment.
What is a Public Key Infrastructure or PKI?
PKI is the usage of digital certificates in combination with encryption.
What is Authentication?
Authentication answers the key question as to whether people are
who they say they are. Equifax's electronic commerce solutions answer
this question via a Remote Authentication System (patent pending).
The Remote Authentication System is a proprietary methodology that
uses both Equifax and customer data and rule sets to quickly answer
this question in an accurate, cost-effective and user-friendly manner.
What is a Certificate Authority (CA)?
An organization or person responsible for defining and administering
the processes for the issuance, renewal, suspension, and revocation
of certificates. It also defines the policies and procedures that
are followed in verifying an identity and/or a person's relationship
to that organization. The CA authorizes the signing of certificates.
It works through Registration Authorities (RA) to approve these
requests.
What is a Registration Authority (RA)?
An organization or a person authorized or licensed to approve requests
so that certificates can be issued, renewed, updated, suspended,
or revoked.
What services do Equifax's electronic
commerce solutions offer?
What are the issues that digital certificates and public key
infrastructure address?
Digital certificates and public key infrastructure address four
issues.
- Confidentiality - was the information received only by the intended
recipient?
- Authenticity - was the information sent by the person claiming
to be the sender?
- Integrity - was the information altered en route to the recipient?
- Binding agreements - can a sender claim that the information
received by the intended recipient was never sent? Is this a legally
binding document?
How does a digital certificate work?
Each person who is issued a certificate has been authorized by a
certificate authority which authenticates the person's identity.
Once authenticated, a digital certificate is digitally signed by
the certificate authority. The digital certificate attaches a unique
public key to the identity of the certificate holder. The public
key is one half of a uniquely matched key pair. The other key is
a private key. While the public key is made available to the public,
the private key is kept confidential. Each key can encrypt and decrypt
data. Information encrypted by one key can only be decrypted by
its matched counterpart in the key pair. Thus, in order to ensure
that only the intended recipient has access to the transmitted message,
the sender encrypts the message using the recipient's public key.
The recipient then decrypts the message using the matched recipient
private key. Similarly, in order to ensure that the message originated
from the claimed sender, the sender signs the message by encrypting
it with the sender's private key. The recipient verifies the identity
of the sender by decrypting the message with the sender's public
key.
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