Yeah, that makes some sense. The question that prompted me to ask was:
Which of the following is true regarding PKI?
a. PKI is intended for e-business use and is typically available through commercial certificate authorities.
b. PKI includes a “tree of trust” that's checked each time a certificate is presented as proof of one's identity.
c. PKI assumes asymmetric encryption to create legally-binding electronic documents.
d. PKI refers to the system and processes used to issue and manage asymmetric keys and digital certificates.
I knew the answer was d. just because it is the definition from the book that I memorized, but I didn't necessarily understand why the others were incorrect. I suppose a. is incorrect because the PKI is the system that the certificate authority uses and it isn't really made available to the user. Answer c. refers to digital signatures. But I don't understand why b. is incorrect. The answer said something along the lines of “trees of trust” are associated with certificate authorities, not PKIs, but since PKIs are the system and processes for managing digital certificates and “trees of trust are checked each time a certificate is presented, why wouldn't “trees of trust” be included in a PKI?
I feel like Becker has thrown a lot of IT definitions at me but hasn't really done a good job of explaining how they're all interrelated. If the IT questions on the exam were primarily definitions and very, very basic concepts, I wouldn't be worried, but based on some of the Becker questions where I've had to apply IT knowledge, it could be disastrous haha
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