How to Manage Digital Certificates
In today's context of more mobile devices like smart phones, tablets, and almost any other connected device, such as smart cars, it no longer is important to simply implement means for securing them against the malicious action of spyware and adwares. Now, in order to be fully protected, they need to be properly managed. This way, the employment of smart devices in a corporate setting is now being seen as an excellent way of not only securing the network itself but also ensuring that all workers have the appropriate means of keeping it secured. The implementation of smart card technology has made this possible and therefore the demand for companies who offer managed solutions for the protection of corporate information and communications is high.
The first step in managing your certificates is to generate an encryption key. An encryption key is a secret code that is designed to unlock the contents of an encrypted file once the correct algorithm has been used to encrypt the data. There are different algorithms for different purposes and therefore it is imperative that you select an encryption key that is based on the nature of the application in question. When selecting an encryption key, make sure that it is one that can't be easily duplicated or compromised and also that it can't be created or derived from a technique that breaks the security of your system.
Aside from generating the encryption key, the next step in managing digital certificates is to generate the corresponding certificate. SSL works on top of TLDs and DSNs, and because of this feature it is able to handle extremely high volumes of traffic with a very high level of authentication and encryption. However, even with a high level of authentication and encryption, SSL encounters a lot of problems when handling sensitive data or when it comes to managing its own certificates. Because of this, it has become imperative that webmasters and administrators find a way in which they can automate the process of managing digital certificates.
Managing SSL certificates can be extremely beneficial to both webmasters and administrators. Through managing digital certificates, you can ensure that every client that makes a contact with your website is actually the owner of the IP address that he is trying to access. This ensures that your website isn't constantly being redirected to some other web site which is insecure and could put your users at risk. Apart from that, by managing your SSL certificate management, you can also ensure that there is a renewal date running so that users know exactly when to renew their certificates. With the way that SSL certificates expire, it can be incredibly difficult for an administrator to manually renew them especially if he or she hasn't experienced too much activity on the site.
When startup comes to managing digital certificates, webmasters will have to rely on two different business services that can help them manage their SSL certificates. The first business service involves using the various SSL Certificate management tools which can be installed on any user's web server. These tools make it easier for webmasters to check their expiration dates, manage their certificates, and even to set up alerts so that they are aware of the possibility of their certificates expiring. While startup might sound like a time consuming process, it actually saves the webmaster valuable time since not all users will automatically check their certificates every day. Some people still may want to perform this task manually but it can become quite a tedious task. On the other hand, by using an automatic tool, the webmaster can rest assured that his business services are secure and he won't have to worry about anyone stealing his customers' information.
Another way to automate your SSL certificate management is through automation of the discovery process. Discovery is the process where the webmaster finds out more information about a particular digital certificate. For instance, when a new user makes a request for a URL, the webmaster would search for the currently available certificates for the domain that the user specified. After searching, the webmaster will then create a new one with the name of the domain. startup of these new ones will then be sent to the discovery URL where the webmaster will wait for the response to verify whether the certificate was successfully established. If it was established, then the new URL will be displayed.
Managing certificate renewals is another aspect of SSL Certificate management that should be handled by any provider who offers web hosting services. startup renewals, on the other hand, allow a webmaster to indicate when a particular certificate needs to be renewed. Certificate renewals are usually handled by the CA which authenticates certificates and generates new ones at designated intervals. Users can also request for their own renewal request which should be approved before the next renewal date.
One important thing that every service provider should know about managing certificates manually is that it is a very tiresome and time consuming process. This is because an individual has to search for relevant keywords in order to search for certificates which would have been established previously. On top of this, it would also require extensive research on the historical value of different types of certificates and the associated public key associated with them as well.