A digital certificate is a data structure that serves as a form of identification and trust mechanism in cryptography. A digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by a named subject, typically an individual (Bob), organisation, or entity. The purpose of the digital certificate is to enable others to trust the information provided by the subject.
Certificate Authorities (CAs)
Digital certificates are issued and managed by entities known as CAs, CAs are trusted organisations that have a role in verifying the identity of the certificate’s subject.
Certificate signature
To ensure the authenticity of digital certificates, the are digitally signed by the private key of the CA. This signature provides a way for others to verify that the certificate has not been tampered with and was indeed issued by the trusted CA. A requester obtains the public key of the CA, decrypt the signed certificate to obtain the public key of the intended receiver.
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