Types of certificates at Uppsala University
At the IT-department there are a number of representatives that controls and signs certificate requests. A routine description exists, but so far only in Swedish ("rutinbeskrivning för kontroll och godkännande av en servercertifikatbegäran").
SUNET TCS Service
Uppsala university issues via SUNET TCS Service certificates for so called secure web services, i.e. the Student portal, Webmail, Netlogon, the central University catalog- and authentication system.
Since the year 2001 the University has had the opportunity to issue certificates to activites that are part of the authority Uppsala University.
Certificates?
A certificate is an electronic signature used to identify a person, a computer, a company, an authority or similar. As for regular identification papers, like passports or drivers licences, the certificate proves that the person is who he/she claims to be. To obtain a passport you go to the appropriate authority and prove who you are. To get a personal certificate you likewise will have to prove your identity to a certificate authority (CA).
Why use certificates?
An issued certificate attests that a document, webpage or similar belongs to a certain person, computer, company, authority etc. The certificate contains among other things the name of the holder, serial number, period of validity, and the name and digital signature of the issuer.
The digital signature of the issuer can be compared to a letter of introduction, where the issuer guarantees that the certificate holder is who he claims to be. How this is supervised is well documentet and consistent with current rules for certificate issuers, as the authenticity of the certificate is strongly connected to the reliability of the issuer.