Streamlining Your Security: Exploring Automated Certificate Management

Traditionally, spreadsheets have been used to manage security certificates, such as SSL certificates. You can continue using this manual method if you have installed one or two certificates in your business environment. But, like most businesses, leveraging an automated certificate management system becomes essential if you are using hundreds of them.

Before we delve into automated certificate management, let’s examine why managing security certificates is essential. These certificates secure your business environment by authenticating the identity of users, websites, or devices. For example, an SSL certificate validates the identity of a website and establishes an encrypted communication between a web page and a web browser.

Why Security Matters for Your Website

All security certificates follow a lifecycle – enrollment, issuance, revocation, renewal, or replacement. They have to be renewed after a certain period. If you are not regularly tracking a certificate’s lifecycle, you will miss its date of expiration or not be aware of its revocation status.

Managing your certificates manually can be cumbersome. It is also an error-prone process that can make your systems vulnerable, increasing the likelihood of security breaches. On the other hand, a certificate lifecycle management system or TLS management platform is an effective and secure option. It simplifies and automates the process of certificate management.

Advantages of Using an Automated Certificate Management System

Reduces Human Errors

When you assign someone the task of managing security certificates using spreadsheets, you expose your business environment to the risk of human errors. The person may enter inaccurate data on the sheet, miss the expiration date, or fail to replace a compromised certificate, resulting in costly downtime. The certificate manager platform automates the process with minimal chance of human errors. It sends you notifications when the renewal date is near and provides real-time alerts for issues. This keeps your security certificates valid.

Quick Revocation or Replacement

A Certificate Manager monitors your security certificates’ status, making you highly proactive to issues during its lifecycle. You will receive an alert when a certificate goes rogue or is compromised. It enables you to revoke the certificate quickly or replace it. Your quick response is the key to maintaining the security of your systems.

Scalability

You can no longer secure your business environment using a few certificates. Hundreds of them are needed. And you may have to install more when your business scales up. The automated certificate management system can easily manage more certificates because of its scalability feature. It can scale to meet the expanding business needs.

Compliance

With a certificate manager, you can ensure that your security certificates comply with the regulatory standards of industries or forums.

The other advantages of the certificate management platform, such as the TLS management platform, include cost savings and efficiency and help improve customer experience – because a valid SSL certificate enhances the safety and trustworthiness of your website.

Opt for Automated Certificate Management 

Error-free certificate management is critical for your business. You cannot afford to rely on a manual method. When you opt for an automated certificate management system, such as Sectigo Certificate Manager, you can take steps in real time and prevent security breaches because of expired or rogue certificates.