Introduction

No matter what is the size and what product or services you offer, digital security is a vital part of your organization. You need to obtain and manage digital certificates effectively and regularly to secure your data, digital accounts, and devices. 

Some common security mistakes can cause a huge loss to your business. The biggest challenges of managing digital certificates are the lack of expertise, long hour, and high-cost of maintenance.  For dealing with these problems, cybersecurity experts are working hard to come up with new solutions. One of the best ways to manage digital certificates is to use automation. 

Here you will learn how you can simplify your digital certificate management process with automation.

Automate Your Digital Certificate Management Process

Digital certificate management process is the most cost-effective way to manage certificate lifestyle automation.  However, you can also follow the best practices to automate the certificate management process.   

Configuring the Certificate Revocation List (CRL)

First of all, let’s understand what a certificate revocation list (CRL) is. It’s nothing but a list of certificates that are revoked by the certificate authority before the expiration. Mainly there are two types of CRLs: (1) Delta CRL, (2) Base CRL. 

The Base CRL contains all the non- expired revoked certificates, and the size of the file is large. On the other hand, the delta CRL is a small file that contains the non-expired revoked certificates since the last base CRL list was published. 

If you configure the CRL properly, you don’t need to interact with the CRL. It will automatically manage and revoke certificates.

Managing With Identity Lookup

If you value the security of your organization, identity lookup is the best tool for you. It validates a user by checking the identity information. It protects your data and network if a user wants to perform any malicious activity. 

Previously, this tool is only available to those companies who have an LDAP. However, you can eliminate the need for an LDAP by developing an industry-specific identity lookup technology. It makes the certificate management process easier and effective. 

Configuring Custom Certificate Expiration

A certificate expires and becomes invalid automatically once the lifecycle of the certificate ends. Typically a certificate is valid between 1 to 5 years. It’s predefined and expires when the time is over. 

So, you can configure this by setting the time when the certificate will expire. Once the time is over, it will become invalid immediately. 

Getting Certificate Expiration Notification

You can set up an automated notification for the expiration of the certificates. It’s essential to secure the network. You can use a tool that will notify you when your digital certificates are about to expire and direct you to renew them. 

Use GUI for Indexing and Managing Certificates

Another way to automate your certificate management is by using a suitable Graphic User Interface (GUI). It will streamline your IT operations efficiently. A GUI makes the certificate management process simpler. It allows you to search a user by name, computer model, MAC address, etc. Also, it gives the ability to search the certificates and help the issues of end-users easily. 

Generating Certificates for Managed Devices

Generating certificates for managed devices is a challenging task. With the help of a simple certificate enrollment protocol, administrators can automatically enroll the managed devices for certificates. The end-users don’t need to perform any action from their end. 

Enabling End Users for Provision of Certificates 

Lastly, enabling an automated system to issue certificates to end-user makes the process easier and convenient. When the end-user manually configures the process, it’s a stressful job for both the user and administrator. 

Using a tool that can provide access to the end-users for the provision of certificates automatically is a relief for the admins. Moreover, it makes the process error-free and easier to monitor. The Final Words
Securing your network and data is vital for your business. For that, you need to manage your digital certificates properly. As it’s a complex and daunting task, automating the process is one of the best things that you can do for your organization. It’s recommended to use a dedicated service that can automate your certificate management process.