Public Key Infrastructures - Nortel 2360 Configuration Manual

Public key infrastructures

A public-key infrastructure (PKI) is a system of digital certificates and certification authorities that verify and
authenticate the validity of each party involved in a transaction through the use of public key cryptography. To
have a PKI, the WSS requires the following:
• A public key
• A private key
• Digital certificates
• A CA
• A secure place to store the private key
A PKI enables you to securely exchange and validate digital certificates between WSS switches, servers, and
users so that each device can authenticate itself to the others.
Nortel WLAN—Security Switch 2300 Series Configuration Guide
Managing keys and certificates 447