Understanding Public-Key Infrastructure: Concepts, Standards, and Deployment Considerations

Private Dissemination

Perhaps the most basic of distribution mechanisms can be referred to as private dissemination. In this case, individual users convey certificates directly to one another. This can be accomplished via "out-of-band" mechanisms such as the following:

• "Hand delivery" via disk or some other storage medium

• An attachment to e-mail

In the private dissemination model, the exchange of revocation information is typically informal and unreliable. Revocation notifications can be conveyed via telephone or through the use of e-mail, but there is typically no guarantee that the revocation information will be conveyed reliably to all concerned individuals. Nor is there typically any software in place that can help the end-user determine ...