A vault certificate is a digital certificate stored securely within a vault or cryptographic system. Vault certificates are used for secure communication and authentication, helping to establish trust and secure connections between parties, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of data transmitted over the network.
For example, in a public key infrastructure (PKI), certificates issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA) authenticate servers, clients, or users and encrypt data exchanged between them. Vault certificates are securely stored within a vault and used to authenticate users, services, or devices accessing sensitive resources or data.
Vault certificates typically contain information such as the owner's identity, public key, validity period, and digital signature issued by the CA. These certificates are validated and verified by clients or servers during the TLS handshake process to establish secure communication channels.
Vaults provide features such as certificate management, which includes secure storage, access controls, and auditing of certificate-related operations. Access to certificates is restricted to authorized users or applications, and all access attempts are logged and audited to monitor for security incidents or policy violations.
By securely managing certificates within a vault, organizations can mitigate the risks associated with unauthorized access, certificate misuse, or certificate-related vulnerabilities. Vault certificates help protect sensitive data, ensure compliance with security standards, and maintain trust in cryptographic operations performed within the environment.
