Why Public Key Infrastructures have failed so far?

TitleWhy Public Key Infrastructures have failed so far?
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2005
AuthorsJ. Lopez, R. Oppliger, and G. Pernul
JournalInternet Research
Volume15
Number5
Pagination544-556
PublisherEmerald
ISSN Number1066-2243
Abstract

Since public key cryptography is a fundamental technology for electronic commerce, people have often argued that public key infrastructures and corresponding certification services are the gold-mines of the information age. Contrary to these relatively high expectations, public key infrastructures have not really taken off and many certification service providers have even gone out of business. In this paper, we overview and discuss the technical, economical, legal, and social reasons why public key infrastructures have failed so far, summarize the lessons learnt, and give our expectations about the future development of the field.

Citation KeyJavierLopez2005
Paper File: 
https://nics.uma.es:8082/sites/default/files/papers/JavierLopez2005.pdf