Certificate Authority (CA)
An organization that issues digital certificates, verifying the identity of websites and enabling encrypted HTTPS connections.
A Certificate Authority (CA) is a trusted third party that issues digital certificates: electronic documents that bind a public key to an entity’s identity. When you see the padlock icon in your browser, it means a CA has verified the website’s identity and the connection is encrypted via TLS/SSL.
CAs are the backbone of internet trust. If a CA is compromised, attackers can issue fraudulent certificates for any domain, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks. Notable CA compromises (like DigiNotar in 2011) have led to stricter auditing and certificate transparency logs.
For teams, understanding CAs matters when managing internal services, APIs, and custom domains. Expired or misconfigured certificates can expose credentials transmitted during login.
Stop sharing passwords in spreadsheets
TeamPassword stores, shares and rotates your team credentials, encrypted end to end.
Trusted by 900+ agencies and small teams worldwide