User guide

Reference Guide 149
Kerberos
A trusted third-party authentication protocol developed at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
key
A means of gaining or preventing access, possession, or control
represented by any one of a large number of values.
key exchange
A scheme for two or more nodes to transfer a secret session key
across an unsecured channel.
key fingerprint
A uniquely identifying string of numbers and characters used to
authenticate public keys.
key ID
A code that uniquely identifies a key pair. Two key pairs can have
the same user ID, but they have different key IDs.
key length
The number of bits representing the key size; the longer the key,
the stronger it is.
key management
The process and procedure for safely storing and distributing
accurate cryptographic keys; the overall process of generating and
distributing cryptographic key to authorized recipients in a secure
manner.
key pair
A public key and its complementary private key.
keyring
A set of keys. Each user has two types of keyrings: a private
keyring and a public one.
key splitting
The process of dividing a private key into multiple pieces and
sharing those pieces among several users. A designated number
of users must bring their shares of the key together to use the key.
Also called secret sharing.