How does PKI secure messages?
When sending messages over the Internet, public key encryption may be used to increase security. Public key encryption is the use of complex mathematical formulae to make data unreadable. Under public-key encryption, two different keys are used, one for encrypting the data and a second key to decrypt it. Someone wanting to send a message would request the recipient’s digital certificate, which contains the public key, from a trusted directory, and then use the public key to encrypt the message before sending. Once the message is encrypted it can only be decrypted using the intended recipient’s private key.
