The evolution of certificate model architecture

摘要

Many products and enterprise so- lutions are becoming available to ensure seamless, secured elec- tronic transactions, all of which must find common trust. This paper reviews the models along a continuum with the low-assurance self-signing certificate authority (CA) at one end, and the high- assurance PKI hierarchical CA at the other. The evolution of tech- nologies and market readiness along the continuum is discussed.