Digital certificates enable secure and confidential communication between two entities. There are different kinds of certificates. Personal certificates are used by individuals. Server certificates are used to establish secure sessions between the server and clients through secure sockets layer (SSL) technology.
Digital certificates are typically issued by a trusted third party called a Certification Authority (CA), such as VeriSign. Once a CA has issued a certificate, the holder can present it as proof of identity and to establish encrypted, confidential communications. In addition to the public key, a certificate typically includes information such as the following:
The name of the holder and other identification, such as the URL of the web server using the certificate, or an individual's e-mail address
The name of the CA that issued the certificate
An expiration date
Most common server products and client applications are typically...