DigiCert
{{Short description|Internet security company}}
{{Advert|date=June 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}{{Infobox company
| name = DigiCert, Inc.
| logo = DigiCert Blue Logo ExLarge.png
| type = Private
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2003}}
| location_city = Lehi, Utah, U.S.
| num_locations = 12
| num_employees = 1,000+
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Amit Sinha (executive) (CEO)|Jason Sabin (CTO)|Dave Packer (CRO)|Deepika Chauhan (CPO)}}
| industry = Internet security, Public key infrastructure, IoT security
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.digicert.com/}}
| subsid = CyberTrust
GeoTrust
QuoVadis
RapidSSL
Thawte
Mocana
DNS Made Easy
}}
DigiCert, Inc. is a digital security company headquartered in Lehi, Utah.{{Cite news |last=Harvey |first=Tom |date=2017-08-03 |title=Utah-Based Digicert Paying Nearly $1 Billion to Acquire Symantec's Website Security Offerings |url=http://www.sltrib.com/news/business/2017/08/03/utah-based-digicert-paying-nearly-1-billion-to-acquire-symantecs-website-security-offerings/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811032636/http://www.sltrib.com/news/business/2017/08/03/utah-based-digicert-paying-nearly-1-billion-to-acquire-symantecs-website-security-offerings/ |archive-date=2017-08-11 |work=Salt Lake Tribune}} DigiCert provides public key infrastructure (PKI) and validation required for issuing digital certificates or TLS/SSL certificates, acting as a certificate authority (CA).
History
File:Firefox 89 AboutCertificate screenshot.png for *.wikipedia.org]]
DigiCert was founded by Ken Bretschneider in 2003 and sold in 2012.{{Cite news |last=Metz |first=Rachel |date=2015-12-15 |title=Inside the First VR Theme Park |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/12/15/71958/inside-the-first-vr-theme-park/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812143821/https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/12/15/71958/inside-the-first-vr-theme-park/ |archive-date=2020-08-12 |work=MIT Technology Review}}{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=Brooks |date=2017-02-19 |title=With New Invention, Virtual Reality's Potential for Magic Gets Real |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/business/media/void-start-up-virtual-reality.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220031753/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/business/media/void-start-up-virtual-reality.html |archive-date=2017-02-20 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |date=2012-04-17 |title=Utah's DigiCert reorganizes its management |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=53925270&itype=CMSID |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107012030/https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=53925270&itype=CMSID |archive-date=2023-11-07 |work=Salt Lake Tribune}} Bretschneider stepped down from the position of CEO to retain business strategy oversight as executive board chairman while Nicholas Hales became CEO.{{Cite news |date=2012-07-02 |title=Digicert Promotes Their COO, LogLogic is Acquire, and More Company News |url=https://www.scworld.com/feature/digicert-promotes-their-coo-loglogic-is-acquire-and-more-company-news |url-status= |work=SC World}}{{Cite news |date=2012-04-17 |title=Utah's DigiCert Reorganizes Its Management |url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=53925270&itype=CMSID |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803085331/http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=53925270&itype=CMSID |archive-date=2017-08-03 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune}} In 2016, the company named John Merrill CEO,[https://www.heraldextra.com/business/local/digicert-names-ceo-green-house-center-anniversary-utah-labor-market/article_ee0d820f-f132-5021-b261-8ef510fcf94d.html “DigiCert names CEO”]. Daily Herald. Retrieved 2019-02-28. who left the company in 2022.
In 2005, DigiCert became a founding member of the CA/Browser Forum.{{Cite web |title=Members |url=https://cabforum.org/members/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=CAB Forum |date=31 August 2013 |language=en-US}}
In 2007, DigiCert partnered with Microsoft to develop the industry's first multi-domain (SAN) certificate.{{Cite web |title=DigiCert Fact Sheet |url=https://www.digicert.com/content/dam/digicert/pdfs/digicert-factsheet-press-kit-en.pdf |website=digicert.com}} {{Citation needed|date=November 2024|reason=I cannot find any source NOT from DigiCert that corroborates this statement.}}
In 2015, DigiCert acquired the CyberTrust Enterprise SSL business from Verizon Enterprise Solutions. Following the acquisition, DigiCert expanded its market share in high-assurance or extended validation (EV) TLS/SSL certificates(EV) TLS/SSL certificates.[https://www.digicert.com/news/2015-06-23-digicert-acquires-verizon-business/ “DigiCert Acquires Verizon Enterprise SSL Business”]. DigiCert.com. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
On August 28, 2015, private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired a majority stake in DigiCert, with TA Associates holding a minority share.{{Cite news |last=Kerner |first=Sean Michael |date=2015-08-28 |title=Thoma Bravo Invests in Security Firm DigiCert |url=https://www.eweek.com/security/thoma-bravo-invests-in-security-firm-digicert/ |work=eWeek}}
In 2017, DigiCert acquired the TLS/SSL and PKI businesses from Symantec, including brands GeoTrust, Rapid SSL (part of GeoTrust), Thawte and Verisign{{cite news |last1=Raymond |first1=Art |date=3 August 2017 |title=Lehi's DigiCert swallows web security competitor in $1 billion deal |url=https://www.deseret.com/2017/8/3/20616930/lehi-s-digicert-swallows-web-security-competitor-in-1-billion-deal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804015937/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865686081/Lehis-DigiCert-swallows-web-security-competitor-in-1-billion-deal.html |archive-date=August 4, 2017 |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=Deseret News}} The acquisition resulted from questions first raised in 2015 by web browsers Google and Mozilla about the authenticity of certificates issued by Symantec, which represented one-third of all TLS/SSL certificates on the web.{{Cite news |last=Sharwood |first=Simon |date=2017-08-03 |title=Symantec offloads its certs and web security biz to DigiCert |url=https://www.theregister.com/2017/08/03/symantec_q1_2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812113942/https://www.theregister.com/2017/08/03/symantec_q1_2018/ |archive-date=2020-08-12 |work=The Register}}{{Cite news |last=Constantin |first=Lucian |date=2017-03-24 |title=To punish Symantec, Google may distrust a third of the web's SSL certificates |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/406198/to-punish-symantec-google-may-distrust-a-third-of-the-webs-ssl-certificates.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022061257/https://www.pcworld.com/article/406198/to-punish-symantec-google-may-distrust-a-third-of-the-webs-ssl-certificates.html |archive-date=2021-10-22 |work=PC World}} In September 2017, Google and Mozilla announced they would "reduce, and ultimately remove, trust in Symantec's Root Keys in order to uphold user's security and privacy when browsing the web".
The final distrust deadline for certificates chaining to Symantec roots was set for October 2018.[https://security.googleblog.com/2017/09/chromes-plan-to-distrust-symantec.html “Chrome’s Plan to Distrust Symantec Certificates”]. Google. Retrieved 2019-03-05. Symantec agreed to transfer its certificate business to its top TLS/SSL competitor, DigiCert, whose roots were trusted by browsers.[https://www.eweek.com/security/digicert-closes-acquisition-of-symantec-s-website-ssl-security-unit "DigiCert Closes Acquisition of Symantec's Website SSL Security Unit"]. eWeek. Retrieved 2019-03-11. In December 2017, DigiCert began issuing free replacements for all distrusted certificates from Symantec, GeoTrust, RapidSSL, Thawte, and VeriSign. By Oct. 2018, the company had revalidated more than 550,000 organizational identities and issued more than 5 million replacement certificates for affected customers.{{cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digicert-works-with-its-customers-and-partners-to-successfully-move-past-googles-distrust-of-symantec-tls-certificates-300745385.html |title=DigiCert works with its customers and partners to successfully move past Google's distrust of Symantec TLS certificates |website=PR Newswire |access-date=2019-03-01}}
In 2018, DigiCert acquired QuoVadis, a trust service provider (TSP) headquartered in Switzerland offering qualified digital certificates, PKI services, and PrimoSign electronic signature software.{{Cite web |last=Kent |first=Jonathan |date=2018-10-31 |title=QuoVadis to be sold to US firm DigiCert |url=https://www.royalgazette.com/international-business/business/article/20181031/quovadis-to-be-sold-to-us-firm-digicert/ |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=www.royalgazette.com |language=en-US}} Qualified digital certificates from QuoVadis (now backed by DigiCert) comply with eIDAS, a set of EU standards for electronic transactions requiring legal proof of authentication. The EU Payment Services Directive mandated that banks and other financial institutions operating in Europe begin using qualified digital certificates by Jun. 2019. According to DigiCert, "the QuoVadis acquisition aligns with the company's vision of providing globally dispersed and robust PKI-based solutions with local support."Barker, Sara. [https://securitybrief.eu/story/digicert-s-quovadis-acquisition-extends-pki-expertise-in-eu “DigiCert’s QuoVadis acquisition extends PKI expertise in Europe”]. SecurityBrief EMEA. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
In 2019, the company announced a new R&D division called DigiCert Labs. DigiCert Labs will collaborate with other enterprise labs – including Microsoft Research, Utimaco, ISARA, and Gemalto – and make grants to universities for the study of topics related to authentication, data integrity, encryption and identity. Initial research projects will focus on post-quantum cryptography and machine learning.Barker, Sara. [https://securitybrief.eu/story/digicert-labs-to-research-postquantum-cryptography-ml “DigiCert Labs to research postquantum cryptography and ML”]. SecurityBrief EMEA. Retrieved 2019-02-28. In 2019, DigiCert also launched the first post-quantum computing tool kit.{{Cite web |title=DigiCert Announces Post-Quantum Computing Tool Kit {{!}} DigiCert.com |url=https://www.digicert.com/blog/digicert-announces-post-quantum-computing-test-kit |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=www.digicert.com |language=en-US}}
In 2019, Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., a leading private investment firm, and TA Associates, an existing investor, reached an agreement to make a strategic growth investment in DigiCert. As part of the transaction, Clearlake, and TA Associates become equal partners in the company.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ta.com/about/news/clearlake-capital-group-and-ta-associates-to-make-a-strategic-growth-investment-in-digicert|title=News {{!}} TA|website=TA Associates|language=en|access-date=2019-07-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://clearlake.com/clearlake-capital-group-and-ta-associates-to-make-a-strategic-growth-investment-in-digicert/|title=CLEARLAKE CAPITAL GROUP AND TA ASSOCIATES TO MAKE A STRATEGIC GROWTH INVESTMENT IN DIGICERT|date=2019-07-09|website=Clearlake Capital|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-16}}
In January 2022, DigiCert acquired IoT security company Mocana.{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/13/digicert-acquires-mocana-to-bolster-iot-security|title=DigiCert acquires Mocana to bolster IoT security|last=Sawers|first=Paul|work=VentureBeat|date=13 January 2022 |access-date=27 January 2022}} In June 2022, the company acquired DNS Made Easy, a DNS services provider.{{Cite web |last=Graham |first=Patrick |date=2022-06-09 |title=DigiCert Acquires DNS Made Easy |url=https://www.themiddlemarket.com/latest-news/digicert-acquires-dns-made-easy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918111235/https://www.themiddlemarket.com/latest-news/digicert-acquires-dns-made-easy |archive-date=2024-09-18 |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Mergers & Acquisitions}}
On October 19, 2022, DigiCert named Dr. Amit Sinha as CEO and board member.{{Cite press release |title=DigiCert Appoints Industry Veteran Amit Sinha as Chief Executive Officer |date=2022-10-19 |publisher=DigiCert / PR Newswire |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digicert-appoints-industry-veteran-amit-sinha-as-chief-executive-officer-301653528.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918111235/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digicert-appoints-industry-veteran-amit-sinha-as-chief-executive-officer-301653528.html |archive-date=2024-09-18}} Amit had previously led technology and innovation at the cloud security company Zscaler the previous 12 years.
Industry involvement
DigiCert is involved in industry and regulatory groups and projects,{{Cite web |title=Industry Partnerships {{!}} DigiCert.com |url=https://www.digicert.com/partners/industry-partners |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.digicert.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=DigiCert Company Culture |url=https://www.digicert.com/blog/digicert-culture |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.digicert.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=News |first=Industry |date=2020-05-22 |title=DigiCert named 2020 Global Company of the Year in TLS certificate market by Frost & Sullivan |url=https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/05/22/digicert-named-2020-global-company-of-the-year/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Help Net Security |language=en-US}} such as:
- Accredited Standards Committee X9 (ASC X9){{Cite web |last=ThePKIGuy |date=2020-05-19 |title=The PKI Guy talks standards with Dean Coclin, chair of the ASC X9 PKI study group |url=https://www.pkisolutions.com/the-pki-guy-talks-standards-with-dean-coclin-chair-of-the-asc-x9-pki-study-group/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=PKI Solutions LLC |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Frazier |first=Ambria |date=2019-12-04 |title=ASC X9 Revives PKI Working Group To Address New Public Key Infrastructure Needs |url=https://x9.org/__asc-x9-revives-pki-working-group-to-address-new-public-key-infrastructure-needs/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Accredited Standards Committee X9 |language=en-US}}
- Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communication System (AeroMACS){{Cite web |date=2018-03-08 |title=DigiCert selected to provide Root CA for AeroMACS |url=http://datacentre.solutions/news/53773/digicert-selected-to-provide-root-ca-for-aeromacs |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Datacentre Solutions |language=en}}
- Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG){{Cite web |title=Corporate Members |url=https://apwg.org/corporate-members/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917155425/https://apwg.org/corporate-members/ |archive-date=2024-09-17 |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Anti-Phishing Working Group}}
- CA/Browser Forum
- CableLabs
- Connectivity Standards Alliance{{Cite web |title=DigiCert Root CA First Approved for Matter Device Attestation by Connectivity Standards Alliance {{!}} DigiCert |url=https://www.digicert.com/news/digicert-root-ca-first-approved-for-matter-device-attestation-by-connectivity-standards-alliance |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.digicert.com |language=en-US}}
- CI+https://www.digicert.com/content/dam/digicert/pdfs/ci-plus-tv-case-study.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}
- DirectTrust.org{{Cite web |last=kgwynn |title=Member List |url=https://directtrust.org/about-membership/member-list |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=DirectTrust |language=en-US}}
- Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
- National Emergency Number Association, 9-1-1 (NENA-911){{Cite press release |title=DigiCert and Eonti Selected by the Western Canadian NG9-1-1 Network Operator to Secure the Next Generation 9-1-1 Systems |date=2022-06-22 |publisher=PR Newswire |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digicert-and-eonti-selected-by-the-western-canadian-ng9-1-1-network-operator-to-secure-the-next-generation-9-1-1-systems-301572587.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622122324/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digicert-and-eonti-selected-by-the-western-canadian-ng9-1-1-network-operator-to-secure-the-next-generation-9-1-1-systems-301572587.html |archive-date=2022-06-22}}
- NIST National Cyber Security Center of Excellence (NCCoE){{Cite web |last=DigiCert |title=DigiCert Joins NIST Consortium on Effective TLS Server Certificate Management |url=https://www.digicert.com/news/pr/digicert-joins-nist-consortium-on-effective-tls-server-certificate-management/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=DigiCert |language=en-US}}{{Cite press release |title=NCCoE Announces Technology Collaborators for the Migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography Project |date=2022-07-15 |publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology |url=https://www.nccoe.nist.gov/news-insights/nccoe-announces-technology-collaborators-migration-post-quantum-cryptography-project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927151822/https://www.nccoe.nist.gov/news-insights/nccoe-announces-technology-collaborators-migration-post-quantum-cryptography-project |archive-date=2024-09-27}}
- Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International{{Cite press release |title=SAE International Hires World-Class Contractor Team for EV Charging Public Key Infrastructure Cooperative Research Project |date=2021-02-09 |publisher=SAE International |url=https://www.sae.org/site/news/press-room/2021/02/sae-international-hires-world-class-contractor-team-for-ev-charging-public-key-infrastructure-cooperative-research-project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606130056/https://www.sae.org/site/news/press-room/2021/02/sae-international-hires-world-class-contractor-team-for-ev-charging-public-key-infrastructure-cooperative-research-project |archive-date=2023-06-06}}
Criticism
DigiCert Inc. is not related to Digicert Sdn. Bhd, a Malaysian-based certification authority that issues certificates with weak keys and had its trust revoked by web browsers.{{cite web |title=SSL Certificate Support - Entrust, Inc |url=http://www.entrust.net/advisories/malaysia.htm |access-date=2015-12-25 |website=Entrust.net |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629012844/http://www.entrust.net/advisories/malaysia.htm |url-status=dead }}[https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2011/11/03/revoking-trust-in-digicert-sdn-bhd-intermediate-certificate-authority/ Revoking Trust in DigiCert Sdn. Bhd Intermediate Certificate Authority], Mozilla. "DigiCert Sdn. Bhd is a Malaysian subordinate CA under Entrust and Verizon (GTE CyberTrust). It bears no affiliation whatsoever with the US-based corporation DigiCert, Inc., which is a member of Mozilla's root program."[https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2641690 Microsoft Security Advisory (2641690)] "DigiCert Sdn. Bhd is not affiliated with the corporation DigiCert, Inc., which is a member of the Microsoft Root Certificate Program."
DigiCert faced criticism during its 2017 acquisition of Symantec's certificate business. The acquisition was prompted by concerns from major web browsers about the authenticity of certificates issued by Symantec, leading to a reduction in trust for Symantec's root keys. DigiCert moved Symantec customers to its platform while maintaining the validity of existing certificates during the transition.{{Cite news |last=Duckett |first=Chris |date=2017-08-02 |title=Symantec to Get Almost $1B Plus Stock in Certificate Business Sale |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/symantec-to-get-almost-1b-plus-stock-in-certificate-business-sale/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804165846/http://www.zdnet.com/article/symantec-to-get-almost-1b-plus-stock-in-certificate-business-sale/ |archive-date=2017-08-04 |work=ZDNet}}
In 2019, Google security researcher Scott Helme found approximately a million dollars worth of extended verification certificates that needed to be revoked due to faulty data, a significant portion of which were DigiCert certificates.{{Cite book |last1=Aas |first1=Josh |last2=Barnes |first2=Richard |last3=Case |first3=Benton |last4=Durumeric |first4=Zakir |last5=Eckersley |first5=Peter |last6=Flores-López |first6=Alan |last7=Halderman |first7=J. Alex |last8=Hoffman-Andrews |first8=Jacob |last9=Kasten |first9=James |last10=Rescorla |first10=Eric |last11=Schoen |first11=Seth |last12=Warren |first12=Brad |chapter=Let's Encrypt: An Automated Certificate Authority to Encrypt the Entire Web |date=2019-11-06 |title=Proceedings of the 2019 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3319535.3363192 |chapter-format=PDF |language=en |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=2473–2487 |doi=10.1145/3319535.3363192 |isbn=978-1-4503-6747-9}}{{Cite web |last=Helme |first=Scott |date=11 September 2019 |title=Extended Validation not so... extended? How I revoked $1,000,000 worth of EV certificates! |url=https://scotthelme.co.uk/extended-validation-not-so-extended/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911211517/https://scotthelme.co.uk/extended-validation-not-so-extended/ |archive-date=2019-09-11 }}
In 2022, DigiCert was condemned by Scott Helme for pushing{{Cite web |last=Helme |first=Scott |date=4 January 2022 |title=If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and QWACs like a duck, then it's probably an EV Certificate |url=https://scotthelme.co.uk/looks-like-a-duck-swims-like-a-duck-qwacs-like-a-duck-probably-an-ev-certifiacate/ |access-date=24 March 2022}} QWAC scheme of certificate similar to EV certificates that undermined trust in certificates.{{Cite web |title=Mozilla and the EFF publish letter about the danger of Article 45.2 {{!}} The Mozilla Blog |url=https://blog.mozilla.org/en/security/mozilla-eff-cybersecurity-experts-publish-letter-on-dangers-of-article-452-eidas-regulation/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=blog.mozilla.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Experts urge EU not to force insecure certificates in web browsers |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/experts-urge-eu-not-to-force-insecure-certificates-in-web-browsers/ |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=BleepingComputer |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |last=Callas |first=Alexis Hancock and Jon |date=2022-02-09 |title=What the Duck? Why an EU Proposal to Require "QWACs" Will Hurt Internet Security |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/what-duck-why-eu-proposal-require-qwacs-will-hurt-internet-security |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.digicert.com/}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Digicert}}
Category:Certificate authorities
Category:Privately held companies based in Utah
Category:Technology companies established in 2003
Category:American companies established in 2003