Registration authority

A Registration Authority ( engl.: registration authority, in short RA ) is an instance within a security infrastructure (PKI) and serves as a registration authority for digital certificates.

The Registrar works closely with the certification authority ( CA) and is responsible for the safe identify and register the certificate holder. The validated application (Certificate Signing Request) will be forwarded to the certification authority, the transported data are protected against manipulation. Most refer to the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS ) is employed.

For certificates that are issued to persons who, for example, is considering an official document with a photograph possible to make sure that the certificate also this person may be assigned. In Web Server Certificates to improve the trustworthiness of an extended validation can be made.