Definition
Certificate Authority
A certificate authority (CA) is the entity of a PKI that issues certificates for other subjects.
Examples
- Commercial CAs: DigiCert, Sectigo, GoDaddy
- Non-profit CAs: Let’s Encrypt
- Government bodies and large organisations (e.g. Google, Amazon) also run their own CAs
Other Tasks
- Creating and managing certificates and keys of the PKI to which the CA belongs
- Revocation of certificates before their expiry date