In a client-server network environment, entities identify themselves with digital certificates using a public key protocol, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Public key protocols are based on asymmetric encryption, in which mathematical properties are used to produce an encryption key pair, a value formed by pairing a public key with a related private key. The public key, as implied by its name, is public information that can be disseminated freely. The private key, on the other hand, is private and should never be revealed to anyone other than the owner of the key pair.