[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":88},["ShallowReactive",2],{"content:\u002Fglossary\u002Fcertificate-authority":3,"related:\u002Fglossary\u002Fssl-certificate,\u002Ftools\u002Fssl-certificate-expiry-checker,\u002Fguides\u002Fssl-certificate-expired-how-to-fix":76},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":61,"description":62,"extension":63,"faq":64,"h1":5,"meta":65,"navigation":66,"path":67,"published":68,"readingMinutes":69,"related":70,"seo":73,"stem":74,"updated":68,"__hash__":75},"glossary\u002Fglossary\u002Fcertificate-authority.md","What is a certificate authority (CA)?",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":53},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,25,28,32,41,45],[10,11,12],"p",{},"A certificate authority, or CA, is an organisation that verifies who controls a domain and issues the SSL certificate for it. Browsers and operating systems ship with a list of authorities they trust, and a certificate is accepted only if it leads back to one of them.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-does-a-ca-decide-to-issue-a-certificate","How does a CA decide to issue a certificate?",[10,19,20],{},"For most certificates it checks that the applicant controls the domain, by placing a file on the site, adding a DNS record or answering an email. More expensive types also verify the organisation behind the site.",[14,22,24],{"id":23},"free-or-paid-authority","Free or paid authority?",[10,26,27],{},"Free authorities such as Let's Encrypt issue short-lived certificates through automation, which suits most sites. Paid authorities add longer support, warranties and organisation validation. For a typical client site the difference is mostly how renewal is handled.",[14,29,31],{"id":30},"why-does-the-ca-matter-when-something-breaks","Why does the CA matter when something breaks?",[10,33,34,35,40],{},"When renewal fails, the cause is often at the CA side of the process: a validation step that no longer passes, a rate limit or a closed account. Knowing who issued a certificate tells you where to look. The ",[36,37,39],"a",{"href":38},"\u002Ftools\u002Fssl-certificate-expiry-checker","SSL certificate checker"," shows the issuer.",[14,42,44],{"id":43},"where-datumboard-fits","Where Datumboard fits",[10,46,47,48,52],{},"Datumboard puts the signals behind this in one dashboard for your client sites and side projects. It is in early access, and you can ",[36,49,51],{"href":50},"#early-access","join the list below",".",{"title":54,"searchDepth":55,"depth":55,"links":56},"",2,[57,58,59,60],{"id":16,"depth":55,"text":17},{"id":23,"depth":55,"text":24},{"id":30,"depth":55,"text":31},{"id":43,"depth":55,"text":44},"Security","A certificate authority is an organisation browsers trust to issue SSL certificates. Learn how trust works and what free and paid authorities differ in.","md",[],{},true,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fcertificate-authority","2026-10-12",3,[71,38,72],"\u002Fglossary\u002Fssl-certificate","\u002Fguides\u002Fssl-certificate-expired-how-to-fix",{"title":5,"description":62},"glossary\u002Fcertificate-authority","1qcKdeCGABKPLkbAM2SiubjHVVLRQ-0Gy4Rw593y-bY",[77,80,84],{"title":78,"description":79,"path":71,"category":61},"What is an SSL certificate?","An SSL certificate proves a website's identity and enables an encrypted HTTPS connection. Learn what it contains, why it expires and how to check it.",{"title":81,"description":82,"path":38,"category":83},"SSL certificate expiry checker (free)","Type a website address to see when its SSL certificate expires, who issued it, which names it covers and whether browsers will trust it. Free, no signup.","Free tool",{"title":85,"description":86,"path":72,"category":87},"SSL certificate expired? How to fix it","Visitors see a full-page browser warning. Confirm the certificate expired, renew it for your kind of hosting, verify the fix and stop it happening again.","How-to",1791830037013]