Public Key Cryptography and Digital Certificates

This element of the chapter presents background technical information on cryptographic systems. This includes Public Key Cryptography (PKC) and the system fundamental SSL- the foundation for every e-commerce faith infrastructure.

Encryption is the procedure of transforming information before communicating it to make it meaningless to all but the intended receiver. Encryption employs mathematical formulas called cryptographic algorithms, or ciphers, and numbers called keys, to decrypt or encrypt information.