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?
When do you need certificate management?
Certificate management is essential for organizations that rely on digital certificates to secure communication, authenticate identities, and protect sensitive data.
Key scenarios requiring certificate management include:
- Scaling IT Infrastructure: When an organization deploys multiple certificates across servers, applications, and devices.
- Regulatory Compliance: Adhering to standards like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS, which mandate encryption for data protection.
- Preventing Downtime: Avoiding disruptions caused by expired certificates.
- Mitigating Security Risks: Ensuring compromised or outdated certificates are revoked promptly to prevent cyberattacks.
- Maintaining Trust: Ensuring digital assets like websites and applications are authenticated to avoid warnings from browsers or users.
Industries like IoT, enterprise IT, and banking often have large-scale deployments of certificates that require automated tools to manage their lifecycle efficiently. Without proper management, organizations risk security breaches, non-compliance, and loss of trust.