PKI as a service

Today’s business is being driven by two main factors, digital transformation, an enabler where operational efficiencies and customer experience is key to future sustainability, but at the same time, while attracting security risks, businesses are implementing a zero-trust architecture to mitigate those risks.

It is not often you can solve two problems with one technology, to enable and secure. This is where public key infrastructure (PKI) comes in. It provides a digital identity with a public and private key pair, where the public key can be sent using a certificate to the world allowing them to verify with your public key that your identity was used to sign a document with your private key and, if the world so wished, to communicate only to you, by encrypting a message with your public key that only you could read by un-encrypting  it with your private key.

The certificate is how you share the public key and is how your laptop connects to a WiFi network. How the certificate uses technology, process and compliance determines how much trust you will have in the public key infrastructure (PKI).

While this seems simple enough, the devil is in the detail.

• Over 70% of all PKI (private) implementations while performing the enabling do not perform the securing, by not implementing the revocation and verification process. This can be due to previous service interruptions, missed expiry dates and so forth, with the result of certificate expiry dates being pushed out into the far future or verification being disabled on the web servers.
• Over 80% of all PKI (private) implementations do not implement past level one, when it comes to PKI business enablement. There are five levels that can be implemented all at once or in series starting at level one that performs network access authentication, an automated enrolment process and ends with level five and a human signing their e-mail, which requires a manual enrolment approach.

• Over 90% of all PKI (private) implementations have no measure of trust.

There is a silver lining.

Today there are a number of solutions in place that simplify the whole PKI stack for the enterprise. You have choices that previously did not exist, making it possible for even smaller organisations to better protect themselves with enterprise security solutions.

Start by establishing your level of trust. Call SmartCrypto for a level one PKI audit and be surprised at how affordable it is to get you on the right track and enable your business safely today.

You can’t afford not to discuss your trusted-PKI-solution, please contact: info@smartcryptosolutions.com