Glossary
This table describes common terms used in this guide.
| Terms | Definition |
|---|---|
|
ACME |
Automatic Certificate Management Environment (ACME) protocol is a communications protocol for automating the certificate enrollment to the CA and provisioning the certificate on the requesting entity. |
|
Certificate Authority (CA) |
A certificate authority or certification authority is an entity that issues digital certificates. It certifies the ownership of the key pair belongs to the subject within the certificate. |
|
CAA Record |
A Certificate Authority Authorization Record specifies which certificate authority is allowed to issue certificate for a domain. If a certificate has CAA record, it means only the CAs listed in the CAA record are allowed to issue a certificate for the domain. If there is no CAA Record, it means any CA can issue certificate for the domain. |
|
X.509 Digital Certificate |
X.509 is a standard defining the format of public key certificates. An X. 509 certificate is using the widely accepted public key infrastructure (PKI) standard to verify that a public key belongs to the user, computer or service identity contained within the certificate. |
|
Identity |
The digital certificate can also be called a Digital ID or Identity for the subject to whom it is certified. |
|
PKI |
A public key infrastructure (PKI) is a technology containing a set of roles, policies, and procedures needed to create, distribute, store and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption. |
|
KMIP |
The Key Management Interoperability Protocol is a communication standard protocol that defines message formats for the management of cryptographic keys on a key management server. |
|
MDM |
Mobile Device Management (MDM) is the administration of mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, and laptops. |
|
EST |
The Enrollment over Secure Transport or EST is a cryptographic protocol that describes an X. 509 certificate management protocol targeting public key infrastructure (PKI) clients that need to acquire client certificates and associated certificate authority (CA) certificates. EST is described in RFC 7030 |
|
SCEP |
Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) is an IETF RFC. This enables network user to request their digital certificate electronically and as simply as possible. Supported by most of the network devices. |
|
SSL/TLS Certificates |
SSL refers to Secure Sockets Layer whereas TLS refers to Transport Layer Security. Both are cryptographic protocols providing secure data communication in a network. |