18/22 Fundamentals of the Public Key Infrastructure (CCNA Security 640-554 Exam Cram)


18.1 Key Terms

PKI = Public key infrastructure. A scalable architecture that includes software, hardware, people, and procedures to facilitate the management of digital certificates
CA = Certificate authority. A system that generates and issues digital certificates. This is usually a device that is trusted by both parties using certificates.
subordinate CA = A certificate authority at a level below the root CA. Large PKI infrastructures use multiple subordinate CAs to offload the work from a single root CA.
root certificate = The certificate at the top of a certificate hierarchy in PKI.
identity certificate = A digital certificate assigned to a device, host, person, or email in a PKI infrastructure offering a concept of validated identity.
PKCS#7 = Public Key Cryptography Standards #7 is used by a CA to distribute digital certificates.
PKCS#12 = Public Key Cryptography Standards #12 is a file format used to store private keys with accompanying public key certificates.
RSA = In 1977, Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman developed a public key algorithm still used by most browsers today. This is an asymmetrical algorithm used for authentication.
digital signature = An encrypted hash that uniquely identifies the sender of a message and authenticates the validity and integrity of the data received. Signing is done with the private key of the sender, and validation of that signature (done by the receiver) is done using the public key of the sender.
public key = The part of a key pair that is shared with other people in a PKI exchange
X.509v3 = The ITU standard for PKI. Version 3 typically refers more to the IETF standard (RFC 3280), which includes CRL usage.
CRL = Certificate revocation list. Used in a PKI environment to inform clients about certificates that have been revoked by the CA.
SCEP = Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol. SCEP was created to facilitate large-scale deployments of PKI, by automating the process of authenticating and enrolling with a CA that supports SCEP. This is a Cisco-sponsored protocol and is supported by some, but not all, other vendors.
LDAP = Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. This protocol can be used for gathering/managing information from an LDAP-accessible directory/database. An example of its use is having a AAA server use an LDAP request to Active Directory to verify the credentials of a user.

18.2 Things to Remember

Component > Description
RSA digital signatures > Using its private key to encrypt a generated hash, a digital signature is created. The receiver uses the public key of the sender to validate the digital signature and verify the identity of the peer.
Digital certificate > File that contains the public key of the entity, a serial number, and the signature of the CA that issued the certificate
Public and private keys > Used as a pair to encrypt and decrypt data in an asymmetrical fashion
Certificate authority > The CA’s job is to fulfil certificate requests and generate the digital certificates for its clients to use. It also maintains a list of valid certificates that have been issued, and maintains a CRL listing any revoked certificates.
X.509v3 > A common certificate format used today
Subordinate CA/RA > Assistant to the CA, which can issue certificates to clients. Clients need both the certificates from the root and the subordinate to verify signatures all the way to the root. Used in a hierarchal PKI topology.
PKCS > Public Key Cryptography Standards, agreed to and implemented by vendors who want the ability to have compatibility with other devices in the PKI.

18.3 Command References

Command > Description
crypto key generate rsa > Generate a public/private key pair on the ASA
crypto ca authenticate > Retrieve and installs the root certificate via SCEP
crypto ca enroll > Request and installs an identity certificate via SCEP

18.4 Command Examples

Generating a New Key Pair
K-ASA (config)# crypto key generate rsa label My-Key-Pair modulus 2048 noconfirm

Authentication and Enrolling with a New CA via SCEP
K-ASA (config)# crypto ca trustpoint New-CA-to-Use
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# keypair New-Key-Pair
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# id-usage ssl-ipsec
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# no fqdn
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# subject-name CN=ciscoasa
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# enrolment url http://192.168.1.105
K-ASA (config-ca-trustpoint)# exit
K-ASA (config)# crypto ca authenticate New-CA-to-Use nointeractive
K-ASA (config)# crypto ca enrol New-CA-to-Use noconfirm

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