Today, many technological solutions are adopted without a thorough understanding of what they will provide—or what they will fail to achieve.
Einstein said in 1950 that “Perfection of methods and confusion of objectives appear, in my view, to define our time.” At the time, he was referring to the general safety and well-being of humanity as a whole. One such technology is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which is a digital signature system. Nobody installs PKI simply for the purpose of deploying PKI.
What is the Significance of PKI Automation?
One of the most common causes of mistakes, such as data breaches or financial losses, is not technological failure, but rather human error and carelessness. Manual procedures expose us to a greater than acceptable rate of mistake, which in turn raises our exposure and risk exposure in the long run.
As our infrastructures and workloads expand in size and complexity, the pace at which they are growing only accelerates further. PKI automation has been shown to be a reliable method of ensuring that these overall objectives are achieved, regardless of how large or complicated the processes required to achieve them are.
Objectives of PKI Comprehensive Security
- The use of PKI automation minimizes the possibility of human mistakes.
- When utilizing automation, you can be confident that the right certificate is always requested and issued using the correct template with the appropriate parameters.
- Efficiencies in the workplace
- We can save money by doing regular activities more efficiently, or we can free up our resources to take on new, higher-priority responsibilities.
- Reduce the quantity of manual labor that must be done.
- Continuity of Operations
- When a certificate expires, it is one of the most frequent reasons for a system to go down.
- One of the most frequent reasons for certificates to expire is the manual procedure that is utilized to renew, reissue, and deploy the certificates.
Most Important Features Of PKI Automation
1. Symmetrical and Asymmetrical encryption
Symmetrical Encryption refers to the encryption type of encryption that uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data and works in three simple steps. The sender uses an encryption key to encrypt the message. This message, in this case, is referred to as the cipher text, which is inaccessible to others. Only the sender or receiver gets the scope to read it. The receiver uses the selected decryption key to convert the message back to a readable form.
Asymmetrical encryption, aka public key encryption, uses a public key-private key pairing that involves the method of getting data encrypted with the private key. That said, it can only be decrypted with the public key. TLS (or SSL ) protocol makes HTTPS possible and completely relies on asymmetric encryption. It’s worth noting that Asymmetric Encryption consists of two cryptographic keys, Public Key and Private Key.
Symmetric Encryption proves to be a lot quicker compared to the Asymmetric method but, remember that the security is enhanced with Asymmetric Encryption. Find out more about symmetric vs. asymmetric encryption now.
2. Integrated Threat Management
Put another way, PKI automation minimizes the possibility of mistakes that may result in danger and damage. The system guarantees that activities are completed properly, but it also ensures that they are completed in a complete and thorough manner. An excellent example is an extremely frequent practice of renewing or replacing certificates, as well as the deployment of certificates to servers, Internet of Things devices, and network appliances.
When utilizing automation, you can be confident that the right certificate is always requested and issued using the correct template with the appropriate parameters. Furthermore, automation will guarantee that all endpoints that need new certificates are handled as soon as possible. PKI automation avoids the possibility of forgetting about an endpoint (for example, because it has gone momentarily offline) and leaving unsafe certificates, invalid keys, and entrusted roots in use on that endpoint.
3. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
One of the most frequent reasons for certificates to expire is the manual procedure that is utilised to renew, reissue, and deploy the certificates. Working from lists that grow and change on a daily basis, within networks that generate new endpoints (many of them as a result of Shadow IT efforts) faster than an administrator can detect them, there is simply no way for an administrator to maintain complete control unless PKI automation is implemented.
Using the automated discovery of endpoints, automated reporting on approaching expirations, and automated management of renewal and re-issuance, you can be sure that the components in place are intended to eventually keep servers up and running rather than, in the inverse, bring them down.
ConclusionÂ
PKI-as-a-Service, also known as managed PKI, is a service provided by Encryption Consulting. It enables you to reap the advantages of a well-run PKI without the operational complexity and costs associated with maintaining the software. Even when delegating back-end duties to a trusted team of PKI specialists, your teams retain the control they need over day-to-day operations.
