User's Manual Part 5

Access / One
®
Network
Glossary of Terms 191
GL
PKCS
(Public-Key Cryptography Standards) A group of specifications produced by RSA
and secure systems developers, and first published in 1991. Among many other
features and functions, the standards define syntax for digital certificates,
certificate signing requests and key exchanges.
PKI
(Public-Key Infrastructure) Software that enables users of an insecure public
network such as the Internet to exchange information securely and privately. PKI
uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the message sender and encrypt
the message by means of a pair of cryptographic keys, one public and one
private. A trusted certificate authority (CA) creates both keys simultaneously
with the same algorithm. A registration authority (RA) must verify the certificate
authority before a digital certificate is issued to a requestor. PKI uses the digital
certificate to identify an individual or an organization. The private key is given
only to the requesting party and is never shared, and the public key is made
publicly available (as part of the digital certificate) in a directory that all parties
can access.
plenum-rated cable
A type of cable approved by an independent test laboratory for installation in
ducts, plenums, and other air-handling spaces.
PMK
(Paise-wise Master Key) A code derived from a master secret and used as an
encryption key for IEEE 802.11 encryption algorithms. A PMK is also used to
derive a pair-wise transient key (PTK) for IEEE 802.11i robust security. See also,
802.11x, 802.11i and PTK.
PoE
(Power over Ethernet) A technology, defined in the IEEE 802.3af standard, to
deliver power over the twisted-pair Ethernet data cables rather than power
cords.