About PKI at Virginia Tech
Deploying a digital infrastructure that enables Virginians to be active participants in government and higher education has been a subject in the Commonwealth of Virginia for a number of years. Executive Orders issued by the Governor at the end of the 1990’s required agencies to web-enable their forms and to effectively use tools of the Internet to provide access to State programs and services.
Highly publicized events, such as identity fraud, breaches in security, loss of privacy, disruption of services, and world wide concerns over conducting business on the Internet, resulted in a statewide Digital Signatures Initiative (DSI) to investigate security measures such as a public key infrastructure (PKI) and smart cards. One of the key reasons for deploying PKI is to establish an electronic foundation of trust that legally binds an individual to a specific digital transaction (non-repudiation). Digital signatures relying on public key cryptography and smart card technologies that store these electronic keys have emerged as one of the leading methods for achieving this foundation of trust.
Security was essentially considered a non-issue during the early days of the Internet. This is no longer true in the world we live in today. Secure methods for verifying the identity of students and employees using campus network services has become increasingly important for the management of network security. In addition, the privacy and integrity of information being transmitted over the campus network is critical for conducting mission critical business transactions. Robust and rigorous security measures are needed to effectively address these security issues.
In response to the State requirement of web-enabling forms and providing cost-effective access to university programs and services, the e-Provisioning group within Information Systems has implemented the Virginia Tech Certification Authority (VTCA) to provide a digital certificate service to the campus community.
Last updated on April 11, 2008