Abstract:

This paper presents remote user authentication mechanism by using digital certificates. Mutual authentication is used to authenticate both user and server before a secure connection is established. We present the mechanism involved in creating these certificates and how these can be used so as to be able to share and access internal resources securely from a remote location. It is believed that with the use of internally created certificates, the dependency on a third party can be eliminated, and thus costs can be saved as well. The mechanism is implemented and tested to ensure a secure connection is established between a remote user and the internal server only when both parties successfully authenticate themselves with the use of digitally signed certificates.