What is the primary purpose of a Certification Authority (CA) in the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)?

The primary purpose of a Certification Authority (CA) within the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is to issue and revoke user certificates. A CA is a trusted entity that verifies the identities of individuals, organizations, or devices and then issues digital certificates that bind public keys to those identities. This process plays a crucial role in enabling secure communications, as the certificates can be used to assure that parties in an online transaction or communication are who they claim to be.

When a digital certificate is issued by a CA, it serves as a form of identification for the entity it represents, allowing for secure encryption and the establishment of trust. If a user’s certificate is compromised or if the user no longer requires it, the CA also holds the authority to revoke that certificate, ensuring that it can no longer be used to authenticate identity or establish secure communications. This dual function of issuing and revoking certificates underlines the CA’s essential role in maintaining the integrity and reliability of the PKI framework, which is critical for secure electronic transactions and communications.

In contrast, processing payment transactions focuses on the functionality of payment systems rather than trust management and identity verification, while creating financial reports is related to accounting and business performance rather than PKI. Similarly, managing network communications pertains more to