Certificates: Building blocks of digital trust

Certificates: Building Blocks of Digital Trust

The importance of digital certificates in today's internet environment is invaluable. They serve as the foundation of digital trust.

What is a digital certificate?

A certificate is simply someone's (such as Hakateam's) public key combined with someone else's (such as LetsEncrypt's) digital signature. So Letsencrypt has signed a "paper" that says something like this:

"Hakatemia's public key is C6 E3 DC...".

When someone comes to the Hakatemia's pages, Hakatemia gives the user's browser this certificate. And then the browser can see that "okay, letsencrypt (or whoever CA ever) has signed this certificate stating that this website has this public key so let's believe it now".

A digital certificate, also known as an SSL/TLS certificate, is a digital file that proves the identity of a web server or website. It contains a public key and information about the key's owner and the issuer of the certificate. The certificate is signed and issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA), ensuring its authenticity.

Certificate Authorities (CA)

Certificate Authorities are organizations that issue, sign, and manage digital certificates. They act as trusted third parties, ensuring the authenticity of the certificate and its owner. Some well-known CAs include Let's Encrypt, Comodo, and Symantec.

These CAs also have their own key pairs, the public key of which is already preloaded in your browser or computer.