| title | status | category | tags | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Digital Certificate |
Feedback Appreciated |
technology |
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A (digital) certificate — also often referred to as a public key certificate, or SSL certificate — is a digital document used to help secure communications over the network. Certificates allow us to know that the particular entity we're communicating with is who they say they are. They also allow us to ensure that our communications are private by encrypting the data we send and receive.
When devices communicate over a network there is no inherent guarantee that a particular device is who it says it is. Additionally, we can't guarantee that the traffic between any two devices won't be intercepted by a third party. Consequently, any communication can potentially be intercepted, compromising sensitive information like usernames and passwords.
Modern email clients that utilize certificates can notify you if a sender's identity is correct, as will web browsers (notice the little lock in front of the address bar of your web browser). On the other side, certificates can be used to encrypt communication between entities on the internet. They provide an encryption technique that makes it nearly impossible, for someone who intercepts the communication, to actually read the data.