Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) White Paper

Chapter 1 9
Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) White Paper
Glossary of CDSA Terms and Acronyms
Decryption is the conversion of encrypted data into its original,
comprehensible form.
data integrity
The assurance that information has not been altered since it was originally
generated.
key
A piece of data that is used with an algorithm to encrypt and decrypt
information.
key wrapping/unwrapping
Encryption/decryption of a key. The key can be a symmetric key or private
key of a public/private key pair.
key-pair generation
The creation of two keys, one public, one private, for signing and verifying
digital signatures.
manifest
A thorough description of an add-in module. A manifest’s specification must
be written in terms defined by the CSSM_MODULE_INFO structure.
message digest
The results of a hash operation on an arbitrary series of bits.
pass-through functionality
The paradigm by which a CDSA add-in shared library provides extra
functionality beyond what is specified by the CDSA API.
protocols, higher-level security
PKCS, SSL, S/MIME, IPSec, and SET are among the higher-level security
protocols that provide the basis for secure Internet interoperability.
public-key cryptography
Cryptography based on techniques that use public and private keys. A
public key is made available to all and is typically used for encryption or for
verifying signatures. By contrast, a private key is kept secret and is used to
generate digital signatures or for decryption operations.
public/private key pair
See key-pair generation.