It has been well over two decades since the first PKI was launched in the market. Over these years, the security needs of the businesses have increased quite a bit. According to a report made by OneA, more than 90% of the organization are facing issues with cybersecurity.
Modern attacks are so brutal that even if a single attack is successful, it can cost the organization millions of dollars. And the worst part of these cybersecurity issues is that not only the big names are on the target lists, small businesses are also not safe.
Cyber attacks target entities and target the rightful owner of the organization. Therefore, to fight cyberattacks, we must take all the necessary action to ensure these cyber attacks are kept at bay. This is where pki became a critical part of the organization.
What Is PKI?
The Public key infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, policies, and procedures required by the companies to create, manage, distribute and revoke digital certificates. PKIs allow the organization to integrate technologies in their business operation and ensure the technologies are used to boost its productivity.
PKI offers the organization the necessary elements that are required to form a trusted and secure business environment. In addition, it helps the businesses establish business identities, enabling controlled access to the system resources.
The next-generation businesses are getting reliant on the use of PKIs to guarantee high performance. The modern business model is getting more dependent on electronic communication, and hence, PKIs are offering them the right mode of communication.
Why Should Businesses Use PKI?
To tell you the truth, today, PKI is everywhere. It is an invisible safety net put behind the people, devices, and networks we use to communicate with each other. We use cryptographic keys and certificates to keep all our data and messages secure.
One of the most widespread uses of PKI is SSL security. When you see an URL, you will sometimes see an HTTP ending with an “S”, and sometimes there is no “S” at the end of the HTTP that shows it is secure.
PKI is not limited to the internet only. It has a much bigger and broader perspective.
Here is how Businesses use PKIs.
1. Digital Signature
Wet Signatures or the signature done with a pen and sent to the parties for approval takes time. And as we know, money is time. So wasting your time waiting for approval is similar to wasting money.
However, digital signature technology has improved this traditional method. Digital signatures are in the form of PDF. However, signing the contracts online means you are taking a risk with the paperwork.
This is where PKI and Digital certificates come into action. First, they evaluate the document to ensure no tampering has been done with the document and signature is genuine.
2. Authenticated Email Communication
Although social media is leading the communication market, when it comes down to business communication, Email is still ahead of social media. That means the one mode of communication you need to secure is your Email marketing.
In recent studies, it has been seen that out of all the data breaches that have taken place, 22% are done through Email Phishing.
With the help of PKI, the sender can send an email with a Digital signature that means the document sent is encrypted and can only be opened by authorized personnel.
3. Smart Card Authentication
Secure and chip-based systems are unbecoming more and more common. Just see the electronic IDs, cards that verify employee tickets request, and payments across the industry. Although this technology is in its experimental phase, experts believe that it can be a game-changer in the healthcare industry.
The US healthcare industry was attacked more than 500 times in 2019. With so much sensitive data flowing in the healthcare industry. This is where Smart Card Authentication comes into play.
- It reduces data breaches with smart authentication.
- Offer better data capture & place authentication over every data.
Empower Your Business With PKI
There are plenty of best PKI practices in the business model. Data encryption, user device, client authentication, smart card authentication are a few ways businesses can use the PKIs in their business operation to boost data security and trust among the customers.
With the integration of PKI, your business can:
- Gain better visibility over the certificate ecosystem.
- Enroll new users at a faster pace.
- Authenticates each user smoothly.
- Restrict the likelihood of data breaches.