User's Manual

CryptoIdentity User Guide – 6. Developing Applications integrated with CryptoIdentity
Page- 89
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6. 2 PKCS#11 STANDARD
The PKCS#11 (or Cryptoki) standard specifies an application programming interface (API)
for devices such as CryptoIdentity, which hold cryptographic information and may perform
cryptographic functions.
Cryptoki, pronounced crypto-key and short for cryptographic token interface, follows a
simple object-based approach, addressing the goals of technology independence (any
kind of device) and resource sharing (multiple applications accessing multiple devices),
presenting to applications a common, logical view of the device called a cryptographic
token.
Applications based on PKCS #11 include Netscape, Baltimore UniCERT Token Manager,
and Entrust/PKI.
The reference documentation for the PKCS#11 API is available at:
http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/pkcs/pkcs-11/
To adopt PKCS#11 for integrating CryptoIdentity into an application, it is strongly
suggested to download and study carefully the PKCS#11 standard.
Several examples regarding PKCS#11 and CryptoIdentity can be found in
the "Samples" subfolder located into the CryptoKit installation folder.