Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): A Primer

As the Internet becomes an increasingly important means of conducting transactions and the volume of e-business grows exponentially, a secure
infrastructure is needed to provide authentication, confidentiality and access control. Security has evolved from a basic password scheme to a
complex key infrastructure. Initially, shared secret keys were exchanged and maintained between pairs of correspondents. However, as the Internet expanded, this method became impractical. Today, a powerful public-private key technology (PKI or Public Key Infrastructure) has evolved to solve this problem.

Download the paper in PDF format here.