Share via

Answer to the Trivial Question

  • Article

The answer to the trivial question from my blog based upon the March 8, 2006 WebCasts “Least Privilege Development and New System.Security Features” is below:

 

Question:  

The KeyInfo element can consist of either a <KeyName/> or a <RetrievalMethod/> child element.  What is the purpose of each element and what are the differences between the two elements?

 

Answer:

Both elements are used to provide additional information about KeyInfo:

 

KeyName - is a string identifying a key pair [key identifier].  Something along the lines of <!ELEMENT KeyName (#PCDATA)>

 

RetrievalMethod - on the other hand retrieval method is a reference to a remote source that can be used to gather information about the KeyInfo.

 

For instance, signatures in a document may use a key verified by a certificate chain appearing once in a document or remotely outside the document; where each signature's KeyInfo can reference this chain using a single RetrievalMethod.

 

Difference:

One element is a string that has the potential to indirectly identify a key while the other is used as direct reference.

 

We now have our three winners.  Thank you everyone for attending the Webcast and look forward to seeing you next week.