Swatch Group Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a core technology that enables secure digital communication. It is the foundation for applications such as email encryption, file encryption, smart card authentication, and more.

A Certificate Authority (CA) issues certificates that are stored on a client computer or on a smart card. A certificate binds an identity to a public key. The user securely keeps the corresponding private key on their computer or on a smart card.

The public key is included in the certificate and is used for encryption. The private key is used for decryption. Only the holder of the private key can decrypt and read the encrypted data, such as email messages.