What is a digital certificate?

Well, think of the digital certificate as the key to starting the SSL engine. Maybe more like a driver's license. It's just an identification card that the server uses to prove that it is who it says it is. Digital Certificates are issued by Certificate Authorities (CA). This is where it gets tricky, because anyone with the right software can be a certificate authority, just like anyone can make a piece of paper that says it's a driver's license. But just as only the state government can issue a license that a police officer will accept, there are certain trusted CA's that your web browser will accept (such as VeriSign, Inc.). Of course, you can tell your web browser to accept other CA's if you want to. In this case, you're the police officer that's accepting these certificates, so you should accept certificates from sources you trust. Also note that, just like the SSL connection itself, a digital certificate does not vouch for the integrity of the company it is issued to. Be wary of ...  more

A digital certificate is a virus-free piece of software specially designed to protect your privacy and represent your personal identity on your computer. Digital certificates are "encrypted" for secure transmission. Digital certificates ensure that your details are kept private and secure.  more

Digital certificates provide the basis for secure electronic transactions as they enable all participants in a transaction to quickly and easily verify the identity of the other participants. They are digitally signed and issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) which verifies that the public key attached to the certificate belongs to the party stated. WebIntellects uses Comodo for its CA.  more

A digital certificate is an electronic document that is passed between a browser and a server, in order to verify the sender's identity.  more

A digital certificate is an electronic 'credit card' that establishes your credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web. The certificate is issued by a certification authority (CA). It contains your name, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holder's public key (used for encrypting messages and digital signatures), and the digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority so that a recipient can verify that the certificate is real. Digital certificates can be kept in registries so that authenticating users can look up other users' public keys.  more

An electronic credential that vouches for the holder's identity, a digital certificate has characteristics similar to those of a passport - it has identifying information, is forgery-proof, and is issued by a trusted third party. Digital certificates are published in on-line directories. Typically, a digital certificate contains: • The user's distinguished name (a unique identifier) • The issuing Certification Authority's distinguished name • The user's public key • The validity period • The certificate's serial number • The issuing Certification Authority's digital signature, verifying the information in the digital certificate.  more

A digital certificate (standard x.509 certificate) is typically used to bind an end user's or organization's name with a public key that corresponds to the private key credentials used for digital signing and authenticating.  more

A digital certificate contains the name of the entity that is being identified, the entity's public key, the name of the issuer, and other information such as validity dates and the cryptographic data that proves that the certificate is authentic. Your browser lets you view the certificates that it has stored.  more

Digital Certificates are system credentials, also known as security tokens, which provide an additional means of validating your identity in electronic transactions. These certificates are encrypted to protect them from being intercepted and used by anyone else. Digital Certificates are safe when installed from a trusted source such as CNB. The certificate will expire in 1 year, after which you will be prompted to renew it.  more

A digital certificate verifies you are who you claim to be. Having a certificate means that an organization, called a Certificate Authority (such as SBS), has verified the identity of the parties involved.  more