Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM)
The Complete Guide to Certificate Lifecycle Management and Its Key Processes
- What is Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) and its importance in secure digital ecosystems?
- What are the stages of certificate lifecycle?
- Who manages TLS/SSL certificates in an organization?
- When do you need certificate management?
- What are the different types of public certificates that need to be managed?
What are the stages of certificate lifecycle?
The certificate lifecycle consists of several key stages to ensure secure and trusted digital operations:
- Certificate Request: A user, system, or device applies for a certificate, submitting identity information to a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).
- Issuance: The CA verifies the requestor’s identity and issues a digital certificate that binds the identity to a public key.
- Installation and Deployment: The certificate is installed on applications, servers, or devices to enable secure communication and authentication.
- Monitoring: Certificates are continuously monitored to detect vulnerabilities, prevent expiration, and ensure compliance with security policies.
- Renewal: Before a certificate expires, it is renewed to maintain uninterrupted trust and security.
Revocation: Compromised or unused certificates are revoked and added to a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) to prevent misuse.
Each stage in the lifecycle ensures certificates function securely and effectively. Proper management prevents expired or vulnerable certificates from exposing systems to threats like man-in-the-middle attacks. Organizations in industries such as IoT, healthcare, and enterprise IT must diligently follow these stages to maintain security and compliance.