Mastering Public Key Infrastructure for Modern Cybersecurity Challenges
Every day, your organisation's digital infrastructure faces invisible threats - undetected breaches, untrusted certificates, and silent encryption failures that could bring operations to a halt. As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, the pressure to secure identity, access, and communication has never been higher. You're expected to defend the enterprise - but how can you confidently manage cryptographic trust across systems when PKI remains one of the most complex, misunderstood domains in cybersecurity? If the thought of certificate lifecycles, key recovery, or zero trust integration makes you hesitate, you're not alone. This isn’t just about compliance. It’s about credibility. A single certificate misconfiguration caused a global outage for a Fortune 500 tech firm last year. Your leadership needs experts who can implement PKI with precision - and reward those who do. Mastering Public Key Infrastructure for Modern Cybersecurity Challenges is your direct path from uncertainty to mastery. This course gives you the structured, battle-tested knowledge to design, deploy, and govern PKI systems that withstand real-world threats, enabling you to deliver board-ready security architectures in under 30 days. Jonathan Reed, Senior Security Architect at a global financial institution, used the framework in this course to redesign his organisation’s cross-domain certificate authority model, reducing certificate-related incidents by 93% and receiving executive recognition - and a promotion - within six months. This course doesn’t just teach theory. It gives you the exact implementation tools, audit templates, and governance blueprints used by leading-edge security teams. Here’s how this course is structured to help you get there.Course Format & Delivery Details Your career advancement demands flexibility and certainty. This course is designed for high-impact professionals who need depth without disruption - a self-paced learning experience with immediate online access, structured for mastery on your schedule. Immediate, Lifetime Access with Zero Time Pressure
The course is fully on-demand, with no fixed start dates, deadlines, or recurring commitments. Most learners complete the program in 4 to 6 weeks with 60–90 minutes of study per day, but you can accelerate or extend your journey based on your workload. You’ll gain lifetime access to all materials, including every future update, at no additional cost. As PKI standards evolve, your knowledge stays current - automatically. Always Available, Anywhere, on Any Device
Access your curriculum 24/7 from desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Whether you're reviewing cryptographic protocols on a train or validating a CA design during a break, the content adapts to your environment. The entire system is mobile-optimised for seamless learning, with responsive layouts and fast loading times across global networks. Expert Guidance with Embedded Support
Every learning milestone includes actionable guidance from field-tested cybersecurity architects. You'll receive direct access to a certified instructor via dedicated support channels for clarification, technical review, and implementation advice. This is not self-guided isolation - it’s structured mentorship embedded into your learning path. Career-Validating Certification from The Art of Service
Upon successful completion, you will earn a Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service - a globally recognised authority in professional cybersecurity training. This credential is trusted by enterprises, auditors, and security leaders worldwide and can be verified online to enhance your professional profile on resumes, LinkedIn, and internal promotion submissions. Zero Risk. Full Confidence. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
We eliminate every hesitation with a complete money-back guarantee. If you're not satisfied with the depth, clarity, or practical value of this course, contact us within 30 days for a full refund - no questions asked. Your investment carries zero financial risk. Transparent, Upfront Pricing - No Hidden Fees
The course fee includes full access to all materials, assessments, templates, and your final certificate. There are no subscriptions, renewal charges, or upsells. You pay once. You own it forever. Global Payment Flexibility
We accept all major payment methods, including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, with secure, encrypted transactions processed instantly. Post-Enrollment Process: Clarity Without Hype
After enrolling, you will receive an order confirmation email. Your course access details and login instructions will be sent separately once your learning portal is fully provisioned. This ensures a seamless, error-free setup experience before you begin. “Will This Work for Me?” - We’ve Got You Covered
This course works whether you're a mid-level security analyst transitioning into architecture, an IT manager overseeing compliance, or a seasoned engineer building zero trust frameworks. It’s designed for real roles, real workloads, and real-world constraints. This works even if: you’ve struggled with abstract cryptography concepts before, your organisation uses a mix of legacy and cloud systems, or you’re required to lead PKI initiatives without formal training. The step-by-step breakdowns, real-world scenarios, and downloadable reference guides ensure rapid comprehension and confident execution - regardless of your starting point. Graduates include federal security auditors, cloud infrastructure leads, and network engineers across healthcare, finance, and defence - all reporting sharper decision-making, reduced incident response time, and increased influence in security governance discussions.
Extensive and Detailed Course Curriculum
Module 1: Foundations of Cryptographic Trust - The role of trust in digital security ecosystems
- Difference between symmetric and asymmetric cryptography
- Understanding public and private key pairs
- How encryption ensures confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation
- Mathematical underpinnings of RSA and ECC algorithms
- Key length selection and future-proofing against quantum threats
- Hash functions and their role in digital signatures
- Message authentication codes vs. digital signatures
- Selected cryptographic standards: FIPS 140-2, NIST SP 800 series
- Threat landscape for cryptographic systems
- Common misconceptions about PKI effectiveness
- Historical failures due to weak key management
- Linking cryptography to organisational risk appetite
- Introduction to certificate-based authentication models
- Defining trust anchors in enterprise environments
Module 2: Principles and Components of PKI Architecture - Core components: CA, RA, CRL, OCSP, certificate store
- Role of the Certificate Authority in trust delegation
- Differences between root, intermediate, and leaf CAs
- Certificate Revocation List (CRL) structure and distribution
- Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) implementation
- Designing multi-tiered CA hierarchies for segmentation
- Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and key protection
- Key lifecycle management: generation to destruction
- Secure key archival and recovery mechanisms
- Certificate templating and policy definition
- Role-based access to PKI components
- Separation of duties in CA operations
- Trust models: hierarchical, mesh, web of trust
- Bridge CA architectures for cross-domain trust
- Federation and hybrid trust relationships
Module 3: Certificate Standards and Encoding Formats - X.509 certificate structure and fields
- Subject and issuer naming conventions
- Serial numbers, validity periods, and extensions
- Common Name (CN) vs. Subject Alternative Name (SAN)
- Key usage and extended key usage constraints
- Basic Constraints extension and CA flagging
- Subject Key Identifier (SKI) and Authority Key Identifier (AKI)
- Authority Information Access (AIA) and CDP extensions
- DNS, email, and IP address binding in certificates
- Certificate policies and policy mappings
- Encoding standards: DER, PEM, PKCS#7, PKCS#12
- Viewing and parsing certificates using command-line tools
- Converting between certificate formats securely
- Analysing certificate chains for trust validation
- Debugging encoding mismatches and parsing errors
Module 4: Designing and Deploying a Private PKI - Use cases for internal PKI vs. public third-party CAs
- Planning CA hierarchy: depth, breadth, and redundancy
- Selecting CA software platforms: Microsoft AD CS, OpenSSL, EJBCA
- Requirements for air-gapped root CA operations
- Designing intermediate CA roles for scalability
- Offline root CA storage and access protocols
- Security hardening for CA servers and services
- Network segmentation for CA protection
- Backup and disaster recovery planning for CA databases
- Automated certificate deployment via group policy
- Capacity planning for certificate issuance volume
- Designing naming standards for consistency
- Choosing certificate validity periods
- Provisioning and securing HSM integration
- Risk assessment for private CA deployment
Module 5: Certificate Lifecycle Management - Certificate lifecycle phases: request, issuance, renewal, revocation
- Automated certificate request workflows
- Role of Registration Authorities (RAs)
- Approval workflows for certificate issuance
- Implementing certificate auto-renewal policies
- Grace periods and overlapping validity windows
- Reissuance vs. renewal strategies
- Revocation triggers: compromise, departure, policy change
- Soft and hard revocation procedures
- Revocation checking mechanisms in applications
- Managing private key compromise scenarios
- Break-glass key recovery procedures
- Key escrow models and legal implications
- Tracking certificate expiration with dashboards
- Integration with IT service management tools
Module 6: PKI in Identity and Access Management - Certificate-based authentication in single sign-on (SSO)
- Smart card and PIV/CAC integration
- Client certificate authentication for web services
- Multi-factor authentication using cryptographic tokens
- Device authentication in zero trust networks
- Binding user identity to certificate attributes
- Automated provisioning via identity providers
- Synchronising certificate lifecycle with HR systems
- Just-in-time certificate issuance for contractors
- Role-based certificate policies
- Attribute Certificate usage for fine-grained access
- Integration with SAML and OAuth workflows
- Securing service accounts with certificates
- Replacing passwords and API keys with mTLS
- Adaptive authentication based on certificate context
Module 7: PKI for Secure Communications - Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and certificate validation
- Configuring web server certificates for HTTPS
- Securing internal APIs with mutual TLS (mTLS)
- Email security using S/MIME and PGP comparisons
- Configuring S/MIME for corporate email systems
- Signing and encrypting code using code signing certificates
- Kernel-mode code signing requirements
- Document signing with digital certificates
- Time-stamping services for long-term validation
- Securing messaging platforms with certificate-based trust
- Encrypting file transfers using secure protocols
- Securing databases with PKI-enabled connections
- Securing DNS with DNSSEC and associated keys
- Securing IoT device-to-cloud communication
- Machine-to-machine authentication in cloud environments
Module 8: PKI in Cloud and Hybrid Environments - Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
Module 1: Foundations of Cryptographic Trust - The role of trust in digital security ecosystems
- Difference between symmetric and asymmetric cryptography
- Understanding public and private key pairs
- How encryption ensures confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation
- Mathematical underpinnings of RSA and ECC algorithms
- Key length selection and future-proofing against quantum threats
- Hash functions and their role in digital signatures
- Message authentication codes vs. digital signatures
- Selected cryptographic standards: FIPS 140-2, NIST SP 800 series
- Threat landscape for cryptographic systems
- Common misconceptions about PKI effectiveness
- Historical failures due to weak key management
- Linking cryptography to organisational risk appetite
- Introduction to certificate-based authentication models
- Defining trust anchors in enterprise environments
Module 2: Principles and Components of PKI Architecture - Core components: CA, RA, CRL, OCSP, certificate store
- Role of the Certificate Authority in trust delegation
- Differences between root, intermediate, and leaf CAs
- Certificate Revocation List (CRL) structure and distribution
- Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) implementation
- Designing multi-tiered CA hierarchies for segmentation
- Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and key protection
- Key lifecycle management: generation to destruction
- Secure key archival and recovery mechanisms
- Certificate templating and policy definition
- Role-based access to PKI components
- Separation of duties in CA operations
- Trust models: hierarchical, mesh, web of trust
- Bridge CA architectures for cross-domain trust
- Federation and hybrid trust relationships
Module 3: Certificate Standards and Encoding Formats - X.509 certificate structure and fields
- Subject and issuer naming conventions
- Serial numbers, validity periods, and extensions
- Common Name (CN) vs. Subject Alternative Name (SAN)
- Key usage and extended key usage constraints
- Basic Constraints extension and CA flagging
- Subject Key Identifier (SKI) and Authority Key Identifier (AKI)
- Authority Information Access (AIA) and CDP extensions
- DNS, email, and IP address binding in certificates
- Certificate policies and policy mappings
- Encoding standards: DER, PEM, PKCS#7, PKCS#12
- Viewing and parsing certificates using command-line tools
- Converting between certificate formats securely
- Analysing certificate chains for trust validation
- Debugging encoding mismatches and parsing errors
Module 4: Designing and Deploying a Private PKI - Use cases for internal PKI vs. public third-party CAs
- Planning CA hierarchy: depth, breadth, and redundancy
- Selecting CA software platforms: Microsoft AD CS, OpenSSL, EJBCA
- Requirements for air-gapped root CA operations
- Designing intermediate CA roles for scalability
- Offline root CA storage and access protocols
- Security hardening for CA servers and services
- Network segmentation for CA protection
- Backup and disaster recovery planning for CA databases
- Automated certificate deployment via group policy
- Capacity planning for certificate issuance volume
- Designing naming standards for consistency
- Choosing certificate validity periods
- Provisioning and securing HSM integration
- Risk assessment for private CA deployment
Module 5: Certificate Lifecycle Management - Certificate lifecycle phases: request, issuance, renewal, revocation
- Automated certificate request workflows
- Role of Registration Authorities (RAs)
- Approval workflows for certificate issuance
- Implementing certificate auto-renewal policies
- Grace periods and overlapping validity windows
- Reissuance vs. renewal strategies
- Revocation triggers: compromise, departure, policy change
- Soft and hard revocation procedures
- Revocation checking mechanisms in applications
- Managing private key compromise scenarios
- Break-glass key recovery procedures
- Key escrow models and legal implications
- Tracking certificate expiration with dashboards
- Integration with IT service management tools
Module 6: PKI in Identity and Access Management - Certificate-based authentication in single sign-on (SSO)
- Smart card and PIV/CAC integration
- Client certificate authentication for web services
- Multi-factor authentication using cryptographic tokens
- Device authentication in zero trust networks
- Binding user identity to certificate attributes
- Automated provisioning via identity providers
- Synchronising certificate lifecycle with HR systems
- Just-in-time certificate issuance for contractors
- Role-based certificate policies
- Attribute Certificate usage for fine-grained access
- Integration with SAML and OAuth workflows
- Securing service accounts with certificates
- Replacing passwords and API keys with mTLS
- Adaptive authentication based on certificate context
Module 7: PKI for Secure Communications - Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and certificate validation
- Configuring web server certificates for HTTPS
- Securing internal APIs with mutual TLS (mTLS)
- Email security using S/MIME and PGP comparisons
- Configuring S/MIME for corporate email systems
- Signing and encrypting code using code signing certificates
- Kernel-mode code signing requirements
- Document signing with digital certificates
- Time-stamping services for long-term validation
- Securing messaging platforms with certificate-based trust
- Encrypting file transfers using secure protocols
- Securing databases with PKI-enabled connections
- Securing DNS with DNSSEC and associated keys
- Securing IoT device-to-cloud communication
- Machine-to-machine authentication in cloud environments
Module 8: PKI in Cloud and Hybrid Environments - Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Core components: CA, RA, CRL, OCSP, certificate store
- Role of the Certificate Authority in trust delegation
- Differences between root, intermediate, and leaf CAs
- Certificate Revocation List (CRL) structure and distribution
- Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) implementation
- Designing multi-tiered CA hierarchies for segmentation
- Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and key protection
- Key lifecycle management: generation to destruction
- Secure key archival and recovery mechanisms
- Certificate templating and policy definition
- Role-based access to PKI components
- Separation of duties in CA operations
- Trust models: hierarchical, mesh, web of trust
- Bridge CA architectures for cross-domain trust
- Federation and hybrid trust relationships
Module 3: Certificate Standards and Encoding Formats - X.509 certificate structure and fields
- Subject and issuer naming conventions
- Serial numbers, validity periods, and extensions
- Common Name (CN) vs. Subject Alternative Name (SAN)
- Key usage and extended key usage constraints
- Basic Constraints extension and CA flagging
- Subject Key Identifier (SKI) and Authority Key Identifier (AKI)
- Authority Information Access (AIA) and CDP extensions
- DNS, email, and IP address binding in certificates
- Certificate policies and policy mappings
- Encoding standards: DER, PEM, PKCS#7, PKCS#12
- Viewing and parsing certificates using command-line tools
- Converting between certificate formats securely
- Analysing certificate chains for trust validation
- Debugging encoding mismatches and parsing errors
Module 4: Designing and Deploying a Private PKI - Use cases for internal PKI vs. public third-party CAs
- Planning CA hierarchy: depth, breadth, and redundancy
- Selecting CA software platforms: Microsoft AD CS, OpenSSL, EJBCA
- Requirements for air-gapped root CA operations
- Designing intermediate CA roles for scalability
- Offline root CA storage and access protocols
- Security hardening for CA servers and services
- Network segmentation for CA protection
- Backup and disaster recovery planning for CA databases
- Automated certificate deployment via group policy
- Capacity planning for certificate issuance volume
- Designing naming standards for consistency
- Choosing certificate validity periods
- Provisioning and securing HSM integration
- Risk assessment for private CA deployment
Module 5: Certificate Lifecycle Management - Certificate lifecycle phases: request, issuance, renewal, revocation
- Automated certificate request workflows
- Role of Registration Authorities (RAs)
- Approval workflows for certificate issuance
- Implementing certificate auto-renewal policies
- Grace periods and overlapping validity windows
- Reissuance vs. renewal strategies
- Revocation triggers: compromise, departure, policy change
- Soft and hard revocation procedures
- Revocation checking mechanisms in applications
- Managing private key compromise scenarios
- Break-glass key recovery procedures
- Key escrow models and legal implications
- Tracking certificate expiration with dashboards
- Integration with IT service management tools
Module 6: PKI in Identity and Access Management - Certificate-based authentication in single sign-on (SSO)
- Smart card and PIV/CAC integration
- Client certificate authentication for web services
- Multi-factor authentication using cryptographic tokens
- Device authentication in zero trust networks
- Binding user identity to certificate attributes
- Automated provisioning via identity providers
- Synchronising certificate lifecycle with HR systems
- Just-in-time certificate issuance for contractors
- Role-based certificate policies
- Attribute Certificate usage for fine-grained access
- Integration with SAML and OAuth workflows
- Securing service accounts with certificates
- Replacing passwords and API keys with mTLS
- Adaptive authentication based on certificate context
Module 7: PKI for Secure Communications - Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and certificate validation
- Configuring web server certificates for HTTPS
- Securing internal APIs with mutual TLS (mTLS)
- Email security using S/MIME and PGP comparisons
- Configuring S/MIME for corporate email systems
- Signing and encrypting code using code signing certificates
- Kernel-mode code signing requirements
- Document signing with digital certificates
- Time-stamping services for long-term validation
- Securing messaging platforms with certificate-based trust
- Encrypting file transfers using secure protocols
- Securing databases with PKI-enabled connections
- Securing DNS with DNSSEC and associated keys
- Securing IoT device-to-cloud communication
- Machine-to-machine authentication in cloud environments
Module 8: PKI in Cloud and Hybrid Environments - Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Use cases for internal PKI vs. public third-party CAs
- Planning CA hierarchy: depth, breadth, and redundancy
- Selecting CA software platforms: Microsoft AD CS, OpenSSL, EJBCA
- Requirements for air-gapped root CA operations
- Designing intermediate CA roles for scalability
- Offline root CA storage and access protocols
- Security hardening for CA servers and services
- Network segmentation for CA protection
- Backup and disaster recovery planning for CA databases
- Automated certificate deployment via group policy
- Capacity planning for certificate issuance volume
- Designing naming standards for consistency
- Choosing certificate validity periods
- Provisioning and securing HSM integration
- Risk assessment for private CA deployment
Module 5: Certificate Lifecycle Management - Certificate lifecycle phases: request, issuance, renewal, revocation
- Automated certificate request workflows
- Role of Registration Authorities (RAs)
- Approval workflows for certificate issuance
- Implementing certificate auto-renewal policies
- Grace periods and overlapping validity windows
- Reissuance vs. renewal strategies
- Revocation triggers: compromise, departure, policy change
- Soft and hard revocation procedures
- Revocation checking mechanisms in applications
- Managing private key compromise scenarios
- Break-glass key recovery procedures
- Key escrow models and legal implications
- Tracking certificate expiration with dashboards
- Integration with IT service management tools
Module 6: PKI in Identity and Access Management - Certificate-based authentication in single sign-on (SSO)
- Smart card and PIV/CAC integration
- Client certificate authentication for web services
- Multi-factor authentication using cryptographic tokens
- Device authentication in zero trust networks
- Binding user identity to certificate attributes
- Automated provisioning via identity providers
- Synchronising certificate lifecycle with HR systems
- Just-in-time certificate issuance for contractors
- Role-based certificate policies
- Attribute Certificate usage for fine-grained access
- Integration with SAML and OAuth workflows
- Securing service accounts with certificates
- Replacing passwords and API keys with mTLS
- Adaptive authentication based on certificate context
Module 7: PKI for Secure Communications - Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and certificate validation
- Configuring web server certificates for HTTPS
- Securing internal APIs with mutual TLS (mTLS)
- Email security using S/MIME and PGP comparisons
- Configuring S/MIME for corporate email systems
- Signing and encrypting code using code signing certificates
- Kernel-mode code signing requirements
- Document signing with digital certificates
- Time-stamping services for long-term validation
- Securing messaging platforms with certificate-based trust
- Encrypting file transfers using secure protocols
- Securing databases with PKI-enabled connections
- Securing DNS with DNSSEC and associated keys
- Securing IoT device-to-cloud communication
- Machine-to-machine authentication in cloud environments
Module 8: PKI in Cloud and Hybrid Environments - Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Certificate-based authentication in single sign-on (SSO)
- Smart card and PIV/CAC integration
- Client certificate authentication for web services
- Multi-factor authentication using cryptographic tokens
- Device authentication in zero trust networks
- Binding user identity to certificate attributes
- Automated provisioning via identity providers
- Synchronising certificate lifecycle with HR systems
- Just-in-time certificate issuance for contractors
- Role-based certificate policies
- Attribute Certificate usage for fine-grained access
- Integration with SAML and OAuth workflows
- Securing service accounts with certificates
- Replacing passwords and API keys with mTLS
- Adaptive authentication based on certificate context
Module 7: PKI for Secure Communications - Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake and certificate validation
- Configuring web server certificates for HTTPS
- Securing internal APIs with mutual TLS (mTLS)
- Email security using S/MIME and PGP comparisons
- Configuring S/MIME for corporate email systems
- Signing and encrypting code using code signing certificates
- Kernel-mode code signing requirements
- Document signing with digital certificates
- Time-stamping services for long-term validation
- Securing messaging platforms with certificate-based trust
- Encrypting file transfers using secure protocols
- Securing databases with PKI-enabled connections
- Securing DNS with DNSSEC and associated keys
- Securing IoT device-to-cloud communication
- Machine-to-machine authentication in cloud environments
Module 8: PKI in Cloud and Hybrid Environments - Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Integrating on-premises PKI with cloud platforms
- AWS Certificate Manager and private CA integration
- Azure Key Vault and Azure Private CA deployment
- Google Cloud Certificate Authority Service usage
- Hybrid CA scenarios with cross-platform trust
- Cloud provider certificate limitations and risks
- Secure certificate provisioning for serverless functions
- Managing certificates across multi-cloud environments
- Private CA interoperability with SaaS applications
- Securing containerised applications with short-lived certs
- Kubernetes service account tokens and certificate mounts
- Istio and service mesh PKI automation
- Managing certificates in CI/CD pipelines
- Secrets management integration with HashiCorp Vault
- Automated rotation in dynamic cloud workloads
Module 9: Automation and Orchestration of PKI Operations - Scripting certificate requests and renewals
- Using ACME protocol for automated issuance (e.g. Let's Encrypt)
- Integrating ACME with internal CAs
- Building certificate lifecycle APIs
- Automated monitoring of certificate expiry
- Event-driven alerts for renewals and revocations
- Integrating PKI with SIEM and SOAR platforms
- Automated remediation for certificate failures
- Policy-as-code for certificate governance
- Using Ansible, Terraform, and Puppet for PKI deployment
- Version control for certificate templates and policies
- Self-service certificate portals for developers
- Approval workflows in automated environments
- Reporting on automated PKI metrics
- Implementing failover and redundancy in automation
Module 10: PKI Security and Risk Mitigation - Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Threat modelling for CA infrastructure
- Attacks on PKI: CA compromise, rogue certificates, misissuance
- Malicious certificate insertion via MITM attacks
- Defending against CA impersonation and spoofing
- Securing the CA private key with HSMs
- Detecting anomalous certificate issuance patterns
- Auditing CA access and administrative changes
- Implementing immutable logging for PKI events
- Penetration testing of PKI deployments
- Red team exercises targeting certificate trust
- Incident response playbooks for PKI breaches
- Containment and recovery from CA compromise
- Legal and regulatory consequences of PKI failure
- Conducting forensic analysis of certificate misuse
- Designing resilient PKI with redundancy and isolation
Module 11: Compliance, Auditing, and Governance - PKI compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS
- SOX requirements for cryptographic controls
- FISMA and NIST compliance frameworks
- ISO/IEC 27001 controls related to certificate management
- Developing Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS)
- Audit trails for certificate lifecycle events
- Regular review of CA configurations and access logs
- Third-party audit preparation and evidence collection
- Internal PKI governance committee structure
- Change management processes for CA modifications
- Enforcing segregation of duties in PKI operations
- Maintaining documented approval chains
- Reporting to executives and risk committees
- Conducting periodic PKI health assessments
- Aligning PKI strategy with enterprise risk framework
Module 12: Advanced PKI Architectures - Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Federated PKI across organisational boundaries
- Cross-certification strategies for partnerships
- Government and industry bridge CA models
- Healthcare PKI using IHE profiles
- Automotive PKI for connected vehicles (IEEE 1609.2)
- Energy sector PKI for smart grid communications
- Long-term validation (LTV) for archival
- Qualified certificates under eIDAS regulation
- Quantum-resistant algorithms and migration planning
- Post-quantum cryptography pilots and standards
- Hybrid cryptographic solutions for transition
- Time-stamping authority (TSA) integration
- Mobile device credentials using SCEP and CMP
- Enrolment protocols for large-scale deployments
- Support for constrained devices and edge environments
Module 13: Implementing Zero Trust with PKI - Zero Trust principles and the role of identity
- Using certificates as strong device identifiers
- Continuous authentication using certificate context
- Micro-segmentation enforced by certificate policies
- Device posture validation via signed attestation
- Dynamic policy enforcement based on certificate metadata
- Replacing IP-based trust with identity-based trust
- Integrating PKI with SDP and ZTNA solutions
- Certificate-based access for remote workers
- Securing third-party vendor access through short-lived certs
- Real-time revocation checks in zero trust sessions
- Visibility and analytics for certificate-based access logs
- Policy orchestration between IAM and PKI
- Scaling zero trust with automated certificate provisioning
- Audit trails for adaptive access decisions
Module 14: Real-World Projects and Tactical Implementation - Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls
Module 15: Certification, Career Advancement, and Next Steps - Final assessment: design a governed PKI for a multinational
- Submit your Certificate Practice Statement for review
- Earn your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service
- How to showcase your certification professionally
- Updating your resume and LinkedIn with PKI expertise
- Preparing for PKI-focused job interviews
- Transitioning into roles: PKI Engineer, Cryptographic Architect, Zero Trust Specialist
- Continuing education paths: CISSP, CCSP, CISM
- Joining professional PKI and cryptography communities
- Contributing to open source PKI projects
- Staying updated with RFCs and standards bodies
- Monitoring new threats and mitigation models
- Participating in industry working groups
- Leveraging your certification for internal promotions
- Using your knowledge as a force multiplier across teams
- Project 1: Design an internal PKI for a healthcare provider
- Define CA hierarchy and certificate policies
- Map compliance requirements to certificate types
- Create Certificate Practice Statement (CPS) draft
- Design backup and recovery procedures
- Project 2: Secure a cloud-native application with mTLS
- Generate certificates for microservices
- Automate certificate rotation in Kubernetes
- Configure service mesh with Istio
- Validate authentication between services
- Project 3: Replace API keys with client certificates
- Issue device-specific certificates
- Integrate with API gateway for mTLS enforcement
- Implement revocation monitoring
- Generate executive summary and risk assessment
- Project 4: Respond to a simulated CA compromise
- Trigger incident response plan
- Revoke affected certificates
- Reissue keys and re-establish trust
- Conduct post-mortem and update controls