🛡️ Free practice test question from: Certificate Signing Request (Security+)

The validation process: verifying the organizational ownership and control of the entity requesting the certificate—is crucial for obtaining HTTPS.

When a website owner wants to enable HTTPS, they generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and submit it to a Certificate Authority (CA). The CA is a trusted third-party entity responsible for issuing digital certificates. However, before issuing a certificate, the CA must ensure that the requester is legitimate. This is where the validation process comes into play.

Validation Process Steps:

→ Domain Validation (DV): The CA verifies that the requester has control over the domain for which the certificate is requested. This is usually done by responding to an email sent to the domain's registered contact or by adding a specific DNS record.

→ Organization Validation (OV): In addition to domain control, the CA verifies details about the organization, such as its name, address, and legal status. This adds a higher level of trust.

→ Extended Validation (EV): This is the most stringent level of validation, where the CA conducts a thorough examination of the organization's legal, physical, and operational existence.