The following is a list of terms and their corresponding
definitions that are used by GPO.
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Authentic content: Content that is verified by GPO
to be complete and unaltered when compared to the version approved
or published by the Content Originator.
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Authenticate: To confirm the identity of an entity
when that identity is presented.
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Authentication: Verification that the digital content
is authentic or official and certification of this to users accessing
the content.
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Authenticity: A digital publication's identity,
source, ownership, and/or other attributes are verified.
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Certificate: Mark of veracity that conveys certification
information to users and is in some way joined to the object itself.
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Certificate Authority: A trusted third party that
issues digital certificates for use by other parties.
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Certification: Proof of verification, validation, or authority. Process associated with ensuring that a digital object is authentically the content issued by the author or issuer.
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Certified: Providing proof of verification of authenticity
or official status.
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Content Originator: The entity responsible for the
creation of the content, generally the publishing agency.
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Converted content: Digital content created from a tangible publication.
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Data integrity: Assurance that the data are unchanged
from creation to reception.
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Deposited content: Content received from Content Originators in digital form.
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Digital ID: Contains a public key that is used to
validate digital signatures as well as information on the identity
of the party to whom the signature belongs.
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Digital signature: A cryptographic code consisting of a hash, to indicate that the data has not changed, encrypted with the public key of the creator or the signer. A digital signature identifies the signer and verifies the integrity of the data.
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Dissemination: The act of making government information products accessible to depository libraries and the public.
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Document: A digital object that is the analog of a physical document, especially in terms of logical arrangement and use. A publication may consist of multiple documents, for example, each chapter of a publication may be a separate document.
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Government publication: A work of the United States
Government, regardless of form or format, which is created or compiled
in whole or in part at Government expense, or as required by law,
except that which is required for official use only, is for strictly
operational or administrative purposes having no public interest or
educational value, or is classified for reasons of national security.
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Harvested content: Digital content within the scope of dissemination programs that is gathered from Federal agency Web sites.
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Integrity mark: Conveys authentication information
to users. The integrity mark will include certification information
and may include an emblem. Integrity marks are used to convey certification
by providing verification of content as authentic and/or official.
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Key pair Two mathematically related keys having
the properties that one key can be used to encrypt a message that
can only be decrypted using the other key, and even knowing one key,
it is computationally infeasible to discover the other key.
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Non-repudiation: Assurance that the sender is provided
with proof of delivery and that the recipient is provided with proof
of the sender's identity so that neither can later deny having processed
the data. Technical non-repudiation refers to the assurance a user
has that if a public key is used to validate a digital signature,
that signature had to have been made by the corresponding private
signature key. Legal non-repudiation refers to how well possession
or control of the private signature key can be established.
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Official content: Content that is approved by, contributed
by, or harvested from an official source in accordance with accepted
program specifications.
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Online dissemination: Applying GPO processes and services to an online publication and making it available to depository libraries and the public.
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Online format: The product is published at a publicly
accessible Internet site.
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Product: A publication, regardless of presentation
media or format.
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Private key: The key of a signature key pair used
to create a digital signature. This key must be kept secret.
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Public key: The key of a signature key pair used
to validate a digital signature. This key is made publicly available,
generally in the form of a digital certificate.
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Public Key Infrastructure: A system of digital certificates, Certificate Authorities, and other registration authorities that verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in an Internet transaction.
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Publication: Content approved by its Content Originator
for release to an audience. See also "Government publication."
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Revoke a certificate: To prematurely end the operational
period of a certificate effective at a specific date and time.
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Root CA: In a hierarchical PKI, the CA whose public
key serves as the most trusted datum (i.e., the beginning of a trust
path) for a security domain.
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Signature certificate: A public key certificate
that contains a public key intended for verifying digital signatures
rather than encrypting data or performing any other cryptographic
functions.
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Subordinate CA: In a hierarchical PKI, a CA whose
certificate signature key is certified by another CA, and whose activities
are constrained by that other CA. See "Superior CA."
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Tangible product: Information conveyed on a physical
meium. Tangible products may be in traditional print format, i.e.,
paper or microfiche, or in a tangible electronic format, i.e., video,
diskette, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, optical disk, or successor technology.
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Trust list: Collection of trusted certificates used
by users to authenticate other certificates.
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Trusted certificate: A certificate that is trusted
by the user on the basis of secure and authenticated delivery. The
public keys included in trusted certificates are used to start certification
paths. Also known as a "trust anchor."
