Summary (Java Security)

B.4. Summary

In this appendix, we've shown an example of an identity-based key management system. Such a system is the only choice for key management for developers in Java 1.1.

The identity-based key management system does have one advantage: it allows the retrieval of identity objects from the database, while the keystore-based system only allows for retrieval of keys and certificates. This means that an identity-based system can embed within it other information about an entity (including, for example, a level of trust associated with that individual); this other information is available to users of the database in a straightforward way.