Upon receipt of the initial signed digital certificate the user will decrypt the certificate with the public
key of the:
registration authority (RA).
certificate authority (CA).
A certificate authority (CA) is a network authority that issues and manages security credentials and
public keys for message encryption. As a part of the public key infrastructure, a CA checks with a
registration authority (RA) to verify information provided by the requestor of a digital certificate. If
the RA verifies the requestor’s information, the CA can issue a certificate. The CA signs the
certificate with its private key for distribution to the user. Upon receipt, the user will decrypt the
certificate with the CA’s public key.