CA ArcotID PKI Client Reference Guide › Introduction › Features and Usage Scenarios

Features and Usage Scenarios

This section describes the important features of ArcotID PKI Client and the usage scenarios.

• Web and VPN authentication

  Web applications and Web-based VPN requiring authentication can use the ArcotID PKI Client to provide two-factor strong authentication. The ArcotID PKI Client is available as a browser plugin, java applet, and flash client. This wide variety of deployment options enables the ArcotID PKI Client to be used in most Web browsers and operating systems.

• SSL client authentication using a digital ID in the ArcotID PKI

  The optional ArcotID PKI key vault feature enables the ArcotID PKI to protect additional private key portion of the digital ID. When the key vault feature is used, the ArcotID PKI Client can be used for SSL client authentication with the help of CA's Cryptographic Service Provider (CSP) or Arcot PKCS#11 module.

• Digital signing by using a digital ID in the ArcotID PKI

  The ArcotID PKI key vault feature also enables the digital IDs stored in an ArcotID PKI to be used for digital signing in PKI-enabled applications such as email, PDF files, and other document types. The ArcotID PKI Client signing functionality is supported for most applications that support PKCS#11 and Microsoft cryptographic API standards.

• Decrypting PKI encrypted files or emails by using a digital ID that is stored in the ArcotID PKI

  The ArcotID PKI key vault feature enables the ArcotID PKI Client to protect the decryption keys, which are used to decrypt the encrypted emails, PDF files, and other documents. The ArcotID PKI Client decryption functionality is supported for most applications that support the PKCS#11 and Microsoft cryptographic API standards.

• Roaming download of the ArcotID PKI

  The ArcotID Client has the ability to download an ArcotID. Depending on which client is used, the ArcotID PKI can be temporarily downloaded into memory, saved on the user's hard disk, or saved on a USB storage device.

• Signing a PDF by using a Roaming ID from CA SignFort in Adobe Reader

  A subset of ArcotID PKI Client is embedded in Adobe Acrobat 8 (and higher) as well as Adobe Reader 8 (and higher). This functionality enables the use of an ArcotID PKI for two-factor authentication when digitally signing a PDF file by using a roaming digital ID that is stored in the CA SignFort server product.