A Certificate Authority (CA) is used to authenticate the digital identities of the users, which can range from individuals to computer systems to servers. Certificate Authorities prevent falsified entities and manage the life cycle of any given number of digital certificates within the system.
Much like the state government issuing you a license, certificate authorities vet the organizations seeking certificates and issue one based on their findings. Just as someone trusts the validity of your license based on the authority of the government, devices trust digital certificates based on the authority of the issuing certificate authorities. This process is similar to how code signing works to verify programs and downloads.
Without Certificate Authorities, our technological world would feel like the Wild, Wild West. It’d feel like you couldn’t trust anyone. So how do we, as a collective, ensure trust?
Certificate Authorities carefully build and maintain trust by validating the credentials of businesses before issuing them certificates. They are third-party organizations, like DigiCert, Let’s Encrypt, and Symantec, responsible for creating and distributing trusted digital certificates. Using a trusted Certificate Authority will help you vouch for the identities of machines to show your users that you’re involved in a legitimate interaction—not one with an imposter.
What is a Registration Authority?
Registration Authority (RA), which is authorized by the Certificate Authority to provide digital certificates to users on a case-by-case basis. All the certificates that are requested, received, and revoked by both the Certificate Authority and the Registration Authority are stored in an encrypted certificate database.
Certificate history and information is also kept on what is called a certificate store, which is usually grounded on a specific computer and acts as a storage space for all memory relevant to the certificate history, including issued certificates and private encryption keys. Google Wallet is a great example of this.
Why are CAs important to DevOps, InfoSec, and DevSecOps?
Infosec teams need to have a solid understanding of CAs to ensure their organizations are adhering to security best practices, protecting data and maintaining user trust. But as we enter a software-first economy, machine identities are no longer primarily deployed at the transaction level. As modern business models require continuous software improvements, speedy access to machine identities is required throughout the development process.
As far as DevOps and DevSecOps are concerned, deployments of code occur frequently and must be authenticated on a continuous basis. But it’s also important that your developers have easy access to trusted machine identities within their development platforms. Otherwise, they may be tempted to take shortcuts that circumvent trusted CAs.
Finally, everyone plays a part in ensuring companies maintain compliance with industry regulations and standards. Following stringent protocols and working with Certificate Authorities is crucial to avoiding penalties.
How does a Certificate Authority work?
To validate a machine as legitimate, you must first request a certificate through a Certificate Signing Request (CSR). This request will contain details about the requesting organization, their domain name, as well as a public encryption key.
Once a Certificate Authority receives a request, they will verify that the requester is who they claim to be. Sometimes this is just a simple domain validation, but sometimes there is a more extended process. Once the CA has completed that verification, they will sign the provided public key with their own private key. That creates a digital certificate, which gets sent back to the requester and installed.
How to choose the right Certificate Authority?
How do you know which Certificate Authority is right for your needs? Consider these factors:
- Reputation: Be sure the CA has performed consistently and has rigorous security practices in place. Their status with the CA/B Forum is a great indicator of their track record.
- Validation levels: Not all CAs provide the same level of validation. Be sure you work with one that meets your needs.
- Certificate types: There are various certificate types, including code signing certificates, device certificates, etc.
- Customer support: If you’re not sure where to begin, do research into existing CAs to see who provides excellent support and easy-to-understand guidance.
- Cost: Security is important, but you also want to seek out competitive pricing.
- Revocation capabilities: If a certificate gets compromised, you want to ensure quick revocation.
- Interoperability: Keep operations running smoothly by first checking CA compatibility with browsers, OSes and devices.
Learn more about machine identity security, and how it can benefit your organization!
