Chapter 13. PKI and Encryption Protocols

This chapter covers the following subjects:

• Public Key Infrastructure—In this section, we discuss PKI and its components including private and public keys, certificates, certificate authorities, and the web of trust model.

• Security Protocols—Here, we define more security protocols such as S/MIME, SSL, TLS, SSH, and VPN-related protocols such as PPTP, L2TP and IPsec. And three cheers if you want—these are the last of the TCP/IP security protocols in the book!

This chapter covers the CompTIA Security+ SY0-301 objectives 1.4, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4.

This short chapter wraps up the rest of the encryption concepts you need to know for the Security+ exam. You need to understand public key infrastructures and have the ability to explain what is entailed when a secure connection is made, for example, to a secure e-commerce web server. There is an entire system involved with public key infrastructures, from the users to servers, encryption methods, and much more. It’s a big topic that can be confusing due to how many and what variety of keys is used. Take it slow, and reread the section if necessary. Several protocols use public key infrastructures as well, many of which you have probably heard of, such as S/MIME, SSL, SSH, and so on. Keep in mind that the security protocols discussed in th....