DES is certainly much more secure than plain text, but does not provide the best available security. In 1998, the EFF created a special-purpose machine to crack DES messages. The purpose of the machine was to emphasize just how vulnerable DES really is. DES is directly related to the length of its key. Certificates Another feature that appeared in JDK 1.1 is certificate technology based on the X.509v3 open standard.
Certificates provide an authentication mechanism by which one site can securely recognize another.
Sites that recognize each other have an opportunity to trust each other as well. SSL is discussed in the next section. Information stored inside a typical certificate file includes the subject's name, the subject's public key, the certificate's issuer, the issuer's digital signature, an expiration date, and a serial number. There are a handful of companies that have set themselves up as CAs in the world. These include Netscape, GTE, Verisign, and a few others.