| The purpose of this capstone project is to address the increase in worldwide cyber-threat when using keys and certificates as a form of encryption. The discussion focuses on published analysis and reviews of documented compromises of keys and certificates by users and issuing Certificate Authorities (CA). The specific questions this study addresses include: How significant are the attacks associated with a compromised key and certificate? What are the different type of attacks that can take place with a breach of an organization's keys and certificates? What risk mitigation is in place by the CA's to prevent a breach of key and certificate trust? Has action been taken from lessons learned of documented compromises of keys and certificates? There should be an understanding of the amount of keys and certificates that exist in an organizations environment. An enterprise should use best practices for certificate processes and procedures to maintain encryption trust. The spread of advanced malware is a result of key and certificate compromises. This study focuses on the role keys and certificates play in modern world encryption and the challenges of the issuing CA. The study concludes that further progress needs to take place within the user community and the CA industry in the areas of risk mitigation. The current trust environment is under cyber-threat and needs to shift from acting out of reaction to taking steps for prevention. Keywords: cybersecurity, Daniel Draz, Stuxnet, DigiNotar, Comodo, TURKTRUST, Flame, malware. |
