Alternative to Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL) for Immediate Certificate Verification

Alternative to CRL for Immediate Certificate Verification

Question

Which of the following protocols is an alternative to certificate revocation lists (CRL) and allows the authenticity of a certificate to be immediately verified?

Answers

Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

C.

The correct answer is C. OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol).

Certificate revocation lists (CRL) is a method used to check whether a digital certificate has been revoked. It works by periodically publishing a list of revoked certificates that can be checked against a certificate presented by a user or device. However, CRLs can be slow to update, and there can be delays between the time a certificate is revoked and the time it appears on a CRL.

OCSP, on the other hand, is an alternative to CRL that allows the authenticity of a certificate to be immediately verified. With OCSP, a client sends a request to an online responder to check the status of a certificate. The online responder will then respond with either "good," "revoked," or "unknown."

OCSP provides a number of advantages over CRLs. It is faster, as it provides an immediate response, and it is more efficient, as it only checks the status of a single certificate rather than an entire list. Additionally, OCSP provides greater privacy, as only the status of the requested certificate is revealed, rather than an entire list of revoked certificates.

RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) is a network protocol used to prevent loops in a network topology. SKIP (Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol) is a protocol used for managing cryptographic keys for secure communication over IP networks. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used for transferring data over the internet, typically used for web browsing. None of these protocols are related to certificate revocation or authentication.