What Does a Valid Certificate Vouch For?

About this interactive

Public key infrastructure gives you a reason to trust a server you have never connected to before. The site owner generates a public and private key pair, proves to a registration authority that they own the domain, and the certificate authority signs a certificate that binds the domain to the public key. Your computer already holds the CA's root certificate, so it can check that signature, check the dates and check the name, and then trust messages the server makes with its private key. That is authenticity, not authentication. With HTTPS on top, the connection also gets integrity and confidentiality. The limit is the lesson's second point. Anyone can buy a domain, be verified by a registration authority and get a certificate. So a valid certificate tells you which domain you reached and that the server holds its key. It does not tell you the site is honest, safe, uncompromised or free of malware.

What you'll learn

Decide what a valid certificate from a trusted certificate authority vouches for: domain ownership, the matching private key, authenticity of the server's messages
Recognize what a valid certificate does not show: that the site, its owner or its downloads are safe

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

1.4 Explain the importance of using appropriate cryptographic solutions.

Key terms

Public Key Infrastructure: A framework of hardware, software, policies, and standards used to create, manage, and distribute digital certificates.
Certificate Authority: A trusted entity that issues digital certificates used to verify the identity of individuals, organizations, or devices.
Digital Certificate: An electronic document that uses a digital signature to bind a public key with an identity.
Authenticity: The assurance that information or a communication originates from the claimed source and has not been fabricated or impersonated. Digital signatures and certificates are common mechanisms for establishing authenticity.
Root Certificate: The self-signed certificate at the top of a PKI hierarchy that serves as the ultimate anchor of trust for all subordinate certificates.

Topics

Interactive Streak Sort

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