Self-standing CA

Authentication and confidentiality are two of the five pillars of cyber security. Encryption is used to provide confidentiality and can be performed by using symmetric or asymmetric cryptographic algorithms and keys. Asymmetric cryptography is better suited to key distribution and system scalability (sharing different keys with different peers), compared to symmetric cryptography, and is therefore typically used in authentication, signing and verification activities.

In asymmetric cryptography, an end entity possesses a private and public key pair. To make public keys widely available, they are packaged-along with other uniquely identifiable information about the end entity-using the de facto X.509 v3 standard, commonly referred to as a digital certificate.