Digital certificate refers to the electronic identity used to prove online transactions.
Digital certificate is an authoritative, credible and fair electronic document signed by a third-party organization (CA) with its private key, which contains many related information such as user identity, public key, validity period and so on. It is the electronic identity of all entities on the Internet. Through the application of certificates, services such as identity authentication, integrity, confidentiality and non-repudiation can be realized, which can be widely used in online banking, online securities, online tax payment, online insurance, online trading, online bidding, e-commerce trading platform, secure e-mail, futures trading, online ticketing and other fields, and contains many concepts.
Functions of "Digital Certificate"
Suppose user A visits website B, and there are:
Identity authentication function-user A logs on to website B, sends A's certificate to B, and B uses CA's public key to confirm A's certificate and its validity period; Query CLR (certificate revocation list) to determine the valid identity of user a; Similarly, A should adopt the same method to determine the validity of B's identity; This is called two-way authentication.
Encryption function in information transmission-User A uses the public key of website B, encrypts the information to be transmitted with the specified encryption algorithm and transmits it to website B, and B decrypts it with its own private key to get the original text. Even if the third party intercepts the encrypted information, it can't decrypt the plaintext information because it can't get B's private key.
So, how can enterprises apply the certificate mechanism to their own systems? Take the financial system of an enterprise as an example. Large business groups often have their own financial companies, and the financial systems of subsidiaries are connected through the Internet. A lot of sensitive financial information and internal settlement information are on this platform. The original identification is carried out by simple user name and password, and the information transmission is also guaranteed by simple encryption means. The potential security risks here are so great that it is easy to cause information to be stolen and forged. Using digital certificate mechanism can solve enterprises safely and conveniently.