CISR helps services design and implement Public Key Infrastructure solutions. Currently CISR members are investigating avenues to high assurance PKIs.

Over the last decade, the Marine Corps has capitalized on the advantages of the Internet by increasingly using the NIPRNET for electronic operations and communications. The Marine Corps wants to further leverage the capabilities of the Internet by moving more applications to the NIPRNET, however, security threats have restricted the type of information that can be exchanged across public networks. The Internet's open design enables message interception, monitoring and forgery; therefore, the Marine Corps is reluctant to use the Internet for transmitting sensitive information. Public key cryptography is becoming the foundation for electronic operations that require security and authentication in open networks. The use of public key cryptography requires a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to publish and manage public key values. The objective of a PKI is to provide authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation of data. In conjunction with DoD PKI development efforts, the Marine Corps will develop and implement PKI services to protect information currently exchanged across the Internet and to enable the use of automated applications.