Authentication v Certification

Abstract

Authentication servers and certification authorities are usually viewed simply as alternative ways of providing the same service. In this paper we show that the differences in the natures of these two approaches are more subtle than is commonly assumed. We argue that, because of these differences, there are many benefits to be gained from employing a protection scheme based on a certification authority rather than an authentication server and that these benefits can, in many applications, outweigh the higher costs in performance associated with a public key certification authority.