ITC 663 Section 7
Which of the following is the beginning point of a certificate chain? a. User certificate b. Intermediate certificate c. Root certificate d. Top-level certificate
: c. Root certificate The beginning point of a certificate chain is the root certificate and they do not depend on a higher-level authority.
Which of the following is considered a non-secure place where PKI encryption keys may be stored? a. Smart-card b. Token c. In a digital certificate d. Local system
Answer: d. Local system Private keys can be stored on a user's local system but this can leave keys open to attacks due to possible vulnerabilities in the OS. Storing keys in hardware such as tokens and smart-cards is usually a more secure alternative.
•A ____________ is a list of digital certificates that have been revoked
Certificate Revocation List (CRL)
•Three PKI trust models use a CA:
The hierarchical trust model, the distributed trust model, the bridge trust model
•certificate chaining
The process of verifying a digital certificate is genuine depends upon •Links several certificates together to establish trust between all the certificates involved
•The browser sends the certificate's information to a trusted entity known as an OCSP Responder The OCSP Responder provides immediate
revocation information on that certificate
•The beginning point of the chain is known as a __________ and is created and verified by a CA
root digital certificate
•They are _________ and do not depend upon any higher-level authority
self-signed
•Trust is defined as confidence in or reliance on another person or entity •A __________ refers to the type of trust relationship that can exist between individuals and entities
trust model
•Direct trust is a type of
trust model where one person knows the other person
•The hierarchical ___________ assigns a single hierarchy with one master CA called __________ •The _________ signs all digital certificate authorities with a single key •This model can be used in an organization where one _ is responsible for only that organization's digital certificates
trust model; root; root; certificate authority
•Third-party trust refers to a situation where
two individuals trust each other because each trusts a third party
•A digital signature is
used to prove a document originated from a valid sender
•Endpoint of the chain is the ________ itself
user digital certificate
•For a cryptography to be useful it needs to be widespread:
•A military force that uses cryptography must allow many users to know of its existence to use it
•Hierarchical trust model limitations:
•A single CA private key may be compromised rendering all certificates worthless •Having a single CA who must verify and sign all digital certificates may create a significant backlog
•OCSP stapling
•A variation of OCSP where web servers send queries to the OCSP Responder server at regular intervals to receive a signed time-stamped response
IPsec provides three areas of protection that correspond to three IPsec protocols:
•Authentication •Confidentiality •Key management
•All x.509 certificates follow the standard ITU-T x.690, which specifies one of three encoding formats:
•Basic Encoding Rules (BER) •Canonical Encoding Rules (CER) •Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER)
•If a user wants a digital certificate: After generating a public andprivate key, the user must complete a request with information such as name, address, email address, known as a
•Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
•Several entities and technologies are used to manage digital certificates:
•Certificate authorities (CAs) •Tools for managing certificates
•Revocation
•Certificate no longer valid
•Certificate management actions facilitated by PKI
•Create •Store •Distribute •Revoke
•Certificate Life Cycle
•Creation •Suspension •Revocation •Expiration
•Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is one of the most common cryptographic protocols
•Developed by Netscape in 1994 •The design goal was to create an encrypted data path between a client and a server •SSL uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) •SSL version 3.0 is the current version
•PKI is one of the most important management tools for the use of:
•Digital certificates: •Asymmetric cryptography
•There are several types of domain digital certificates:
•Domain validation digital certificates •Extended validation (EV) digital certificates •Wildcard digital certificates •Subject alternative name (SAN) digital certificates
Weaknesses of Cryptographic Protocols
•Due to the complexity of networking, cryptographic protocols are notoriously difficult to design •Older cryptographic protocols were designed by networking experts and not by cryptographic protocol experts
•Most common modes:
•Electronic Code Book (ECB) •Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) •Counter (CTR) •Galois/Counter (GCM)
•The person requesting a digital certificate can be authenticated by:
•Email, documents, in person
•Web server digital certificates perform two primary functions:
•Ensure the authenticity of the web server to the client •Ensure the authenticity of the cryptographic connection to the web server
•Key Handling Procedures
•Escrow •Expiration •Renewal •Revocation •Recovery •Suspension •Destruction
•A crypto service provider allows an application to implement an encryption algorithm for execution •Crypto service providers typically:
•Implement cryptographic algorithms •Generate keys •Provide key storage •Authenticate users by calling various crypto modules to perform specific tasks
•Weakness of using digital signatures:
•It can only prove that the private key of the sender was used to encrypt the digital signature •An imposter could post a public key under a sender's name
•Secure Shell (SSH) is an encrypted alternative to the Telnet protocol used to access remote computers
•It is a Linux/UNIX-based command interface and protocol •SSH is a suite of three utilities: slogin, ssh, and scp •Client and server ends of the connection are authenticated using a digital certificate and passwords are encrypted •SSH can be used as a tool for secure network backups
•A cryptographic key is a value that serves as input to an algorithm
•It transforms plaintext into ciphertext (and vice versa for decryption)
•Expiration
•Key can no longer be used
•Implementing cryptography includes understanding:
•Key strength •Secret algorithms •Block cipher modes of operation •Cryptographic service providers •The use of algorithm input values
•It is important to understand PKI:
•Know PKI trust models •How it is managed •Features of key management
•Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) is a protocol for securing email messages
•MIME is a standard for how an electronic message will be organized, so S/MIME describes how encryption information and a digital certificate can be included as part of the message body •S/MIME allows users to send encrypted messages that are also digitally signed
•Hardware and Software Digital Certificates More specific digital certificates relate to hardware and software:
•Machine/computer digital certificate •Code signing digital certificate •Email digital certificate
•Suspension
•May occur when employee on leave of absence
•Domain Digital Certificates
•Most digital certificates are web server digital certificates issued from a web server to a client
•Would a secret algorithm enhance security in the same way as keeping a key or password secret?
•No
•Creation
•Occurs after user is positively identified
•Key Usage• Multiple pairs of dual keys can be created
•One pair is used to encrypt information and the public key backed up in another location •Second pair would be used only for digital signatures and the public key in that pair would never be backed up
•Intermediate CAs are subordinate entities designed to handle specific CA tasks such as:
•Processing certificate requests •Verifying the identity of the individual
•Three primary characteristics that determine the resiliency of the key to attacks (called key strength)
•Randomness •Length of the key •Cryptoperiod - length of time for which a key is authorized for use
•Certificate Revocation
•Reasons a certificate would be revoked ▶Certificate is no longer used ▶Details of the certificate have changed, such as user's address ▶Private key has been lost or exposed (or suspected lost or exposed)
•The most common categories of digital certificates are:
•Root certificates •Domain certificates •Hardware and software certificates
•The most common cryptographic transport algorithms include the following:
•Secure Sockets Layer •Transport Layer Security •Secure Shell •Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure •S/MIME •Secure Real-time Transport Protocol •IP Security
•Alternative: storing keys in hardware
•Smart-cards •Tokens
•Crypto service providers can be implemented in:
•Software, hardware, or both
•Key Storage
•Software-based storage may expose keys to attackers
•A block cipher manipulates an entire block of plaintext at one time
•The plaintext is divided into separate blocks of specific lengths •Each block is encrypted independently
•Root Digital Certificates
•The process of verifying a digital certificate is genuine depends upon certificate chaining
•A common use of TLS and SSL is to secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) communications between a browser and Web server
•The secure version is actually "plain" HTTP sent over SSL or TLS and is called Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS) •HTTPS uses port 443 instead of HTTP's port 80 •Users must enter URLs with https://
•IPsec is a protocol suite for securing Internet Protocol (IP) communications •IPsec is considered to be a transparent security protocol
•Transparent to applications, users, and software
•IPsec supports two encryption modes:
•Transport mode encrypts only the data portion of each packet and leaves the header unencrypted •Tunnel mode encrypts both the header and the data portion
•Digital certificates is a common application of cryptography •Using digital certificates involves
•Understanding their purpose •Knowing how they are managed •Determining which type of digital certificate is appropriate for different situations
•Trusted third party
•Used to help solve the problem of verifying identity •Verifies the owner and that the public key belongs to that owner
•Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a replacement for SSL
•Versions starting with v1.1 are significantly more secure than SSL v3.0 •Current version is TLS v1.2 •A cipher suite is a named combination of the encryption, authentication, and message authentication code (MAC) algorithms that are used with SSL and TLS
Private keys
•can be stored on user's local system
User electronically signs the CSR and sends it to an _____________ •An __________ processes the CSR and verifies the authenticity of the user
•intermediate Certificate Authority
A certificate policy (CP)
•is a published set of rules that govern operation of a PKI •The CP provides recommended baseline security requirements for the use and operation of CA, RA, and other PKI components
•Certificate Practice Statement (CPS)
•is a technical document that describes in detail how the CA uses and manages certificates •It also covers how to register for a digital certificate, how to issue them, when to revoke them, procedural controls and key pair management
•The web of trust model is based on direct trust
Each user signs a digital certificate then exchanges certificates with all other users
•Digital Certificate Attributes and Formats •The standard format for digital certificates is
X.509
Which encryption protocol is used for securing email messages? a. S/MIME b. SRTP c. HTTPS d. TLS
a. S/MIME Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) is used to secure email messages. SRTP provides VOIP protection, HTTPS is used, along with TLS, to secure communication between a Web browser and Web server.
Which of the following is NOT a primary characteristic of key strength? a. Randomness b. Uniqueness c. Key length d. Cryptoperiod
b. Uniqueness The three primary characteristics that determine the resiliency of the key to attacks, or key strength, are: randomness, length of key, and cryptoperiod.
•Public keys
can be stored by embedding them within digital certificates
•The distributed trust model
has multiple CAs that sign digital certificates •Eliminates limitations of hierarchical trust model
Public key infrastructure (PKI)
is a framework for all entities involved in digital certificates
•Certificate Repository (CR)
is a publicly accessible centralized directory of digital certificates •It can be used to view certificate status •The directory can be managed locally by setting it up as a storage area connected to the CA server
•Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)
is a secure extension protecting transmission using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) •SRTP provides protection for Voice over IP (VoIP) communications •Adds security features such as message authentication and confidentiality for VoIP Communications
•A digital certificate
is a technology used to associate a user's identity to a public key that has been "digitally signed" by a trusted third party
•The bridge trust model
is similar to the distributed trust model •One CA acts as a facilitator to interconnect connect all other CAs •Facilitator CA does not issue digital certificates, instead it acts as hub between hierarchical and distributed trust model •Allows the different models to be linked
•A common method to ensure security and integrity of a root CA is to keep it in an offline state from the network _______________ •It is only brought online (_______________) when needed for specific and infrequent tasks
offline CA
•Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)
performs a real-time lookup of a certificate's status •is called a request-response protocol