Certificates; Chapter 15 Certificates; Overview; What You Can Do In This Chapter - ZyXEL Communications P-2601HN(L)-F1 Series User Manual

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H A P T E R

15.1 Overview

The ZyXEL Device can use certificates (also called digital IDs) to authenticate
users. Certificates are based on public-private key pairs. A certificate contains the
certificate owner's identity and public key. Certificates provide a way to exchange
public keys for use in authentication.

15.1.1 What You Can Do in this Chapter

• Use the Local Certificates screens to view and import the ZyXEL Device's CA-
signed certificates
• Use the Trusted CA screens to save the certificates of trusted CAs to the ZyXEL
Device. You can also export the certificates to a computer
172).

15.1.2 What You Need to Know

The following terms and concepts may help as you read this chapter.
Certification Authorities
A Certification Authority (CA) issues certificates and guarantees the identity of
each certificate owner. There are commercial certification authorities like
CyberTrust or VeriSign and government certification authorities.
Public and Private Keys
When using public-key cryptology for authentication, each host has two keys. One
key is public and can be made openly available; the other key is private and must
be kept secure. Public-key encryption in general works as follows.
Tim wants to send a private message to Jenny. Tim generates a public-private key
1
pair. What is encrypted with one key can only be decrypted using the other.
Tim keeps the private key and makes the public key openly available.
2
P-2601HN(L)-F1 Series User's Guide
(Section 15.2 on page 170).
15

Certificates

(Section 15.3 on page
167