PKI
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Cybersecurity
| Stands for | Public key infrastructure |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
PKI stands for Public key infrastructure, a cybersecurity abbreviation.
The system of certificate authorities, digital certificates, policies and software that binds public keys to identities, letting strangers communicate securely. HTTPS, signed software, encrypted email and smart cards all depend on PKI.
Example: The company runs an internal PKI so every laptop gets a device certificate for Wi-Fi and VPN.
Usage notes
Browsers and operating systems ship with lists of trusted root certificates, and each website certificate chains up to one of them. Compromised authorities, such as DigiNotar in 2011, show that the whole system is only as strong as its weakest trusted authority. Certificate Transparency logs, required by major browsers, make mis-issued certificates easier to spot.
Related abbreviations
More cybersecurity abbreviations
- OWASP – Open Worldwide Application Security Project
- PAM – Privileged access management
- PCI DSS – Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
- PFS – Perfect forward secrecy
- PGP – Pretty Good Privacy
- PII – Personally identifiable information
- PUP – Potentially unwanted program
- RaaS – Ransomware as a service
- RADIUS – Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
- RAT – Remote access trojan
- RBAC – Role-based access control
- RCE – Remote code execution