A Certification Practice Statement (CPS) is a document from a
certificate authority or a member of a
web of trust which describes their practice for issuing and managing
public key certificate
In cryptography, a public key certificate, also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate, is an electronic document used to prove the validity of a public key. The certificate includes information about the key, information about the ...
s.
Some elements of a CPS include documenting practices of:
* issuance
* publication
* archiving
* revocation
* renewal
By detailing the practice of issuance, revocation and renewal, a CPS aids entities in judging the relative reliability of a given certificate authority.
Certificate authorities
In a certificate authority, the CPS should derive from the organization's
certificate policy
A certificate policy (CP) is a document which aims to state what are the different entities of a public key infrastructure (PKI), their roles and their duties. This document is published in the PKI perimeter.
When in use with X.509 certificates ...
and may be referenced in issued certificates.
Web of trust
Because individuals act as certifiers in a web of trust, individual CPS documents are sometimes used. For example, in a PGP WoT, the CPS might state that the certifying entity checked two forms of legal government ID before signing the person's public key.
Digital signatures
When verifying digital signatures, it's necessary to review the CPS so as to determine the meaning of the issuance of the certificate by the certifying entity.
[American Bar Association Digital Signature Guidelines 1996, ]
References
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External links
Microsoft.com "Creating Certificate Policies and Certificate Practice Statements"*
Security policy
* Example of a CPS for a Web of Trust: http://www.grep.be/gpg/cert-policy-v2
Key management
Public-key cryptography