Introduction

As security becomes more important in today's network environments, there needs to be a secure method of passing information between hosts . One of the most common ways of doing this is through the use of digital certificates.

Organizations have the option of using a commercial company to issue digital certificates. They can also use Certificate Services, included with Windows 2000. Certificate Services enables the creation of a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which allows data to be encrypted, and computers and users to be verified and authenticated. Certificate Services establishes a system of trust.

This chapter covers the fundamentals behind certificates, including how to install, configure, and manage Certificate Services.