In this section, we explore a few practical applications
of certi?¬?cates as a means of authentication for end users, highlighting
why they are very successful in their intended context
but not necessarily suitable as a universal solution.
Corporate Smartcards and Intranet Certi?¬?cates
In the section ???Ascent,??? while describing the rise of local networks,
we introduced the concept of authorization. When the
user lives in a world of resources managed by a single authority,
the one who set up the network infrastructure in the ?¬?rst place,
it is possible to regulate accesses and privileges by using the
user identity as opposed to a list of blind credentials. It is interesting
to point out that, in the context of a corporate network,
the user is a managed resource (or, to be precise, the user??™s account
is). The exact meaning of the term will vary depending on
Certi?¬?cates can be
used as a means for
authenticating users
Strong governance
can make certi?¬?-
cate-based authentication
viable
The Babel of Cryptography 61
the platform on which the network infrastructure is built.
However, you can think of it as the logical representation of the
user identity in the network.
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