Public key cryptography has become widespread as a way to protect users, networks, data, and critical business systems. Whether PKI digital certificates are used to encrypt data and ensure privacy, to digitally sign documents and messages to attest to their integrity and authenticity, or to authenticate users and systems and control access, these public key operations are integral to modern operating systems, commercial security products, and custom-built systems. E-commerce, online banking, internet gaming, smartphones, and cloud computing all rely on the use of digital certificates to represent the digital identity of users, connected devices, web services, and business applications.

Each digital certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) is based on a pair of cryptographic keys that form a high strength unique credential that is tightly associated with the user or organization in question and that is used to perform secure operations such as encryption or signing." Read our whitepaper, "Securing Your PKI" for an in-depth discussion on PKIs and their management.


More than: https://www.entrust.com/digital-security/hsm/solutions/use-case/credentialing-and-pki-applications/pki-and-digital-certificates