Chapter 18 Certificates
NWA-3500/NWA-3550 User’s Guide
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18.6.1 Private-Public Certificates
When using public-key cryptology for authentication, each host has two keys. One
key is public and can be made openly available. The other key is private and must
be kept secure.
These keys work like a handwritten signature (in fact, certificates are often
referred to as “digital signatures”). Only you can write your signature exactly as it
should look. When people know what your signature looks like, they can verify
whether something was signed by you, or by someone else. In the same way, your
private key “writes” your digital signature and your public key allows people to
verify whether data was signed by you, or by someone else. This process works as
follows.
1
Tim wants to send a message to Jenny. He needs her to be sure that it comes from
him, and that the message content has not been altered by anyone else along the
way. Tim generates a public key pair (one public key and one private key).
2
Tim keeps the private key and makes the public key openly available. This means
that anyone who receives a message seeming to come from Tim can read it and
verify whether it is really from him or not.
3
Tim uses his private key to sign the message and sends it to Jenny.
4
Jenny receives the message and uses Tim’s public key to verify it. Jenny knows
that the message is from Tim, and that although other people may have been able
to read the message, no-one can have altered it (because they cannot re-sign the
message with Tim’s private key).
5
Additionally, Jenny uses her own private key to sign a message and Tim uses
Jenny’s public key to verify the message.
18.6.2 Certification Authorities
A Certification Authority (CA) issues certificates and guarantees the identity of
each certificate owner. There are commercial certification authorities like
CyberTrust or VeriSign and government certification authorities. You can use the
NWA to generate certification requests that contain identifying information and
public keys and then send the certification requests to a certification authority.
Summary of Contents for 802.11a/g Wireless CardBus Card ZyXEL AG-120
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Page 8: ...Safety Warnings NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 8...
Page 10: ...Contents Overview NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 10...
Page 20: ...Table of Contents NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 20...
Page 22: ...22...
Page 34: ...Chapter 1 Introducing the NWA NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 34...
Page 52: ...Chapter 4 Management Mode NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 52...
Page 108: ...108...
Page 146: ...Chapter 9 SSID Screen NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 146...
Page 160: ...Chapter 10 Wireless Security Screen NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 160...
Page 178: ...Chapter 14 IP Screen NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 178...
Page 186: ...Chapter 15 Rogue AP Detection NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 186...
Page 198: ...Chapter 16 Remote Management Screens NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 198...
Page 260: ...Chapter 21 Load Balancing NWA 3160 Series User s Guide 260...
Page 264: ...Chapter 22 Dynamic Channel Selection NWA 3160 Series User s Guide 264...
Page 276: ...Chapter 23 Maintenance NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 276...
Page 277: ...277 PART III Troubleshooting and Specifications Troubleshooting 279 Product Specifications 285...
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Page 284: ...Chapter 24 Troubleshooting NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 284...
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Page 368: ...Appendix D Importing Certificates NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 368...
Page 386: ...Appendix F Text File Based Auto Configuration NWA 3500 NWA 3550 User s Guide 386...
