- Certificate Authority
- or Certification Authority (CA), 1) for a Security Certificate the CA is an entity that issues Digital Certificates or encryption keys for use by other parties as part of a Public Key Infrastructure system. The CA acts as a trusted third party that verifies applicant credentials and attests that the key contained in the certificate belongs to the person, organization, server or other entity noted in the certificate; there may be a hierarchy of certificate authorities. 2) For a certificate of insurance the CA attests to the validity of the certificate. 3) Other uses include certification of standards compliance or validating types of certificates.
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