Organizations Use a Digital Certificate for a Variety of Purposes

A digital certificate can be used for a variety of purposes within your organization. You will also discover certificates are provided by other companies, such as your computer manufacturer. You could use certificates for authentication methods like accessing your cloud environments or connecting through your VPN. You may also use certificates for digital signatures to ensure important data and documents are encrypted and are able to be authenticated.

Sometimes You Can Encounter an Untrusted Digital Certificate

From time to time you might encounter an untrusted digital certificate. This type of certificate is one that is not part of your trusted list of certificates. The only time you should add the certificate to your list of trusted ones is when you know the organization or company who sent you the certificate. Otherwise you do not want to accept the certificate and need to avoid using it. For example, you may come across this from accessing different websites on the internet. Whenever an untrusted certificate is discovered, access to the website is temporarily blocked and a warning message is provided. You are presented with a choice whether or not to continue to the website.