Certificate Authorities (CAs)

Certificate Authorities (CAs) are the foundation of trust in any Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). They issue and sign digital certificates, enabling secure authentication, encrypted communications and data integrity across your organization’s digital ecosystem. A well-managed CA infrastructure is key to sustaining trust and security across your digital assets. MTG-CLM empowers you to adapt your PKI as your organization evolves, ensuring that your trust model remains robust, compliant, and aligned with your business objectives.

Role of Certificate Authorities

CAs serve as trust anchors, validating the identities of certificate holders and ensuring that only authorized entities receive digital credentials. Your CA hierarchy - whether rooted internally, externally, or as a mix - directly impacts the security and scalability of your PKI.

  • Internal CAs: Operated and controlled within your organization, providing full oversight and policy enforcement.

  • External CAs: Integrated from third-party providers, supporting interoperability and regulatory compliance.

  • CA Hierarchies: Multi-level CA structures allow delegated trust, operational separation, and risk management.

CA Lifecycle Management

Maintaining a robust CA inventory is essential for sustaining trust and compliance:

  • Onboarding and Integration: Add internal or external CAs to serve as trust anchors for certificate issuance. This supports migration, interoperability, and business continuity.

  • Policy Enforcement: Define and update CA policies to reflect evolving security requirements, such as which CAs are authorized for specific certificate types or business domains.

  • Trust Adaptation: Retire or archive CAs that are no longer needed, ensuring that only current and relevant authorities remain active.

  • Audit and Compliance: Maintain a record of all CA-related actions and changes, supporting regulatory audits and internal reviews.

  • Risk Mitigation: Remove obsolete or compromised CAs to reduce attack surfaces and maintain a secure PKI.

Efficient CA management requires the ability to quickly locate authorities based on specific criteria. MTG-CLM supports advanced search functionality, allowing you to:

  • Filter CAs by Valid From Range and Valid To Range dates, making it easy to identify CAs that are expiring soon or have recently become valid.

  • Search by the following attributes: Subject DN, ID, Issuer DN, Issuer ID, Valid From, Valid To, Verify Servers, Root CA, and Fingerprint.

This advanced search capability helps you maintain a current, compliant, and secure CA inventory.

Importing a CA from File

To integrate with external trust sources or migrate existing PKI components, you can import a CA certificate from a file. Only the PEM file format is supported. Importing a CA certificate allows you to:

  • Establish new trust anchors for certificate issuance and validation

  • Support interoperability with third-party systems

  • Ensure that all trusted authorities are centrally managed and auditable

When importing a CA, ensure the certificate file is authentic and originates from a trusted authority. Only import CAs that align with your organization’s security and compliance requirements.

Best Practices

  • Regularly review your CA inventory to ensure all active CAs are necessary, trusted, and compliant.

  • Document CA relationships and hierarchies for transparency and easier troubleshooting.

  • Archive rather than delete CAs when possible, preserving historical trust relationships for audit and compliance needs.

  • Monitor CA usage and certificate issuance to detect anomalies or unauthorized activities.