About Security Certificates

A security certificate (generally called a certificate) is an electronic document that establishes credentials for performing transactions over the Internet. In addition to a certificate, you must also have both private and public keys. A private key is an encryption/decryption key known only to you. A public key is a value provided by a certificate authority (CA). When a public key is combined with a private key derived from the public key, it can be used to encrypt messages and digital signatures. For more information on acquiring a certificate, see Certificate Formats.

You must acquire your security components from a CA. A CA is a company that issues and manages security credentials and public keys for message encryption and decryption. For example, VeriSign^TM is a leading CA. To acquire your certificate and keys, you order them from your designated CA.