Due Week 6 and worth 60 points Suppose you are the Information Security Director at a small software company. The organization currently utilizes a Microsoft Server 2012 Active Directory domain administered by your information security team. Mostly software developers and a relatively small number of administrative personnel comprise the remainder of the organization. You have convinced business unit leaders that it would be in the best interest of the company to use a public key infrastructure (PKI) in order to provide a framework that fosters confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation. Email clients, virtual private network (VPN) products, Web server components, and domain controllers would utilize digital certificates issued by the certificate authority (CA). Additionally, the company would use digital certificates to sign software developed by the company in order to demonstrate software authenticity to the customer. Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you: Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Purchase the answer to view it Purchase the answer to view it Purchase the answer to view it

The use of a public key infrastructure (PKI) can greatly enhance the security of an organization’s information systems. A PKI provides a framework that facilitates confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. This is achieved through the use of digital certificates issued by a certificate authority (CA). In the case of the software company in question, the implementation of a PKI would involve the use of digital certificates by email clients, VPN products, web server components, domain controllers, and software developed by the company itself.

The first step in implementing a PKI is to set up a certificate authority (CA). The CA is responsible for issuing and managing digital certificates. These digital certificates contain a public key that is used for encryption and a private key that is kept securely by the owner. The CA acts as a trusted third party that verifies the identity of the certificate holder by digitally signing the certificate. This provides assurance that the certificate holder is who they claim to be.

In the case of the software company, the CA would issue digital certificates to email clients, VPN products, web server components, and domain controllers. These digital certificates would be used to authenticate the identity of these systems and establish secure communication channels. For example, when an email client wants to send an encrypted email, it would use its digital certificate to encrypt the message using the recipient’s public key. The recipient would then use their private key to decrypt the message.

In addition to securing communication channels, digital certificates can also be used to sign software developed by the company. By signing software with a digital certificate, the company can demonstrate the authenticity of the software to the customer. This ensures that the software has not been tampered with or modified by unauthorized parties.

To implement a PKI, the software company would need to establish appropriate policies and procedures for managing the digital certificates. This includes procedures for requesting, issuing, and revoking certificates, as well as procedures for storing and protecting private keys. The company would also need to train its employees on the proper use and management of digital certificates.

In conclusion, the implementation of a PKI can provide significant security benefits for a software company. It allows for the establishment of secure communication channels and provides a means to authenticate the identity of systems and software. The use of digital certificates issued by a certificate authority plays a crucial role in this process. However, it is important to have appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure the effective management of the PKI.