Summary

This section summarizes the basic PKI protocol and some important concepts that you should remember to use this software effectively.

Basic PKI Protocol

To help you remember the basic PKI protocol, think about the following scenario:

1. Bob gets Alice's public key (certificate).
2. Bob signs his message with his private key.
3. Bob encrypts his message with Alice's public key (certificate).
4. Bob sends the signed and encrypted message to Alice.
5. Alice receives the signed and encrypted message.
6. Alice decrypts the signed and encrypted message using her private key.
7. Alice verifies Bob's signature using his public key (certificate).

Something to Remember

1. When encrypting, you use someone's public key (may be yours).
2. When signing, you use your private key.
3. When decrypting, you use your private key.
4. A certificate is owned by a user and is identified by the user's name and email address.