Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

A Certificate Policy defines what a CA will do. A Certification Practice Statement defines how it does it. Here's what they contain, why auditors care, and where gaps between CP and CPS create real risk.

Cloud-based PKI offloads CA infrastructure to providers like AWS, Google, and Azure. Here's what they manage, what you still own, and where managed PKI creates hidden dependencies.

IoT devices need cryptographic identity for authentication and encrypted communication. Here's how PKI works at device scale, what's different from server PKI, and where IoT certificate management fails.

PKI hierarchy depth determines security, scalability, and operational complexity. Here's when to use 1-tier, 2-tier, or 3-tier designs, what each costs operationally, and where hierarchy choices create long-term pain.

PKI trust models define how entities establish and verify trust. Here's how hierarchical, mesh, bridge, and web-of-trust models work, where each is used, and what breaks when trust assumptions fail.

Public CAs issue certificates trusted by every browser. Private CAs issue certificates trusted only within your organization. Here's when to use each, what changes architecturally, and where teams make costly mistakes.

Root CAs anchor trust and stay offline. Intermediate CAs handle daily issuance. Here's why the separation exists, how the chain works, and what happens when either is compromised.

Learn the fundamentals of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), including how digital certificates, certificate authorities, and trust chains work together to secure communications.

A Certificate Authority issues and signs digital certificates that establish trust on the internet. Here's what it does, how the trust model works, and where organizations get it wrong.