Certificate Authorities: What They Are & Why They’re Important

CAs are trusted organizations that store, sign and issue SSL certificates for websites. Learn more about how Certificate Authorities work with Sectigo.

Certificate authorities play a central role in modern web security, and yet, many people are entirely unaware that these resources are so influential in their day-to-day browsing. These critical organizations are responsible for providing digital signatures and certificates, thus promoting integrity and trust on a broad scale.

Because the influence and benefits of CAs are so far-reaching, business leaders and website owners should make an effort to get better acquainted with them. This means learning how they function and recognizing what, exactly, goes into selecting the best CA and the best digital certificates. We explore this in detail below so you can feel confident as you seek SSL/TLS and other types of digital certificates.

What is a Certificate Authority?

A Certificate Authority (CA) is a third-party organization or entity that validates websites by issuing digital certificates. To accomplish this, CAs check credentials with registration authorities, which, in turn, determine whether the website in question should be verified. There’s a set of Baseline Requirements public CAs must follow for their public certificates to be accepted by browsers for general use.

CAs draw on the power of the public key infrastructure (PKI), which encompasses the many processes and policies that make it possible to encrypt data. This constitutes the underlying framework for the technology that promotes authentication via digital certificates. The CA acts as the trusted entity responsible for issuing several types of PKI certificates.

What is their function?

CAs play a huge role in maintaining collective peace of mind for the many people who browse or even depend on the internet — and the websites that serve these individuals. These independent bodies serve as trusted third parties, meant to both issue and vouch for certificates as needed.

Equipped with certificates from respected CAs, website owners can feel confident that their digital certificates will provide the desired level of validation to their web browsers and, as a result, promote a similar sense of trust in user

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