Modeling and Simulation of Public Key Infrastructure Applications

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is one of the primary weapons in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) “defense in depth” information assurance strategy, and will be used to sign all DoD e-mail messages by October 2003. PKI uses asymmetric “public” and “private” keys to sign and/or encrypt e-mail messages and other information. The effect of this additional workload on the existing network and servers was investigated using OPNET Capture Agent, Application Characterization Environment (ACE), and Modeler. Another application which uses PKI, the Secure Single Sign-on prototype, was also investigated using the OPNET Capture Agent, ACE, and Modeler. These types of investigations allow the manager to ascertain the true benefits and performance costs in implementing PK