Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Glossary Definition

Term Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
Definition

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the policies, roles, hardware, software, and procedures used to create, manage, and trust digital certificates and public keys. The acronym PKI is commonly used in security, IT, audit, and compliance work.

Context & Usage

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) supports data protection, trust, integrity, and secure communication; implementation details matter because weak key handling or configuration can undermine otherwise sound controls.

Categories Cybersecurity, Compliance, and Access Management, General Technology and Miscellaneous