What is Certificate Lifecycle Management Software? Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software automates the processes supporting certificate management. CLM Software manages certificate issuance, provisioning, deployment, monitoring, inventory, discovery, renewal, and revocation. These digital certificates are most often created using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), to authenticate and encrypt information. The certificates authenticate and protect users, machines, server communications, ...
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Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software automates the processes supporting certificate management. CLM Software manages certificate issuance, provisioning, deployment, monitoring, inventory, discovery, renewal, and revocation. These digital certificates are most often created using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), to authenticate and encrypt information.
The certificates authenticate and protect users, machines, server communications, IoT devices, containers, code, documents, and signatures. They verify website identity, provide secure connections between websites and browsers and encrypt web data. The certificates are used to secure communications between systems and authenticate clients. Certificates that digitally sign code affirm code authenticity and integrity.
Certificate Lifecycle Management solutions are used to support SecOps, NetOps, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure. These solutions are used in the financial services, healthcare, retail, and automotive industries and for industrial IoT and medical devices. Automating Certificate Lifecycle Management minimizes risks associated with certificate expiration and human error. These risks expose organizations to unauthorized access, hacking, phishing, data breaches, and service outages.
Certificate Lifecycle Management Software includes many of the following features.
Consider the following when purchasing Certificate Lifecycle Management Software.
Use Cases: Depending on your certificate requirements, there are a variety of Certificate Lifecycle Management software products to meet your needs. Some broader vendor products support multiple public Certificate Authorities, multiple certificate types, and public PKI infrastructure. Other products only support SSL/TLS or SSH certificate management. Some vendor products have an even narrower focus, for example, only supporting SSL for Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services or only supporting identity management certificates for Unix users. Other products specialize in IoT devices, machine identity management, or code signing. Some solutions support private PKI infrastructure and private Certificate Authorities.
Private PKI Infrastructure: If your organization requires certificate management for internal domains or customized certificate configurations - which public PKI does not support - ensure that your CLM software supports private PKI infrastructure. Private PKI infrastructure should also be under consideration if your organization does not wish to expose sensitive application or network configuration data, as certificate transparency is required when using public PKI infrastructure.
Implementation: Depending on your company’s security policies and guidelines, your organization may wish to take advantage of some vendor products that offer the potential convenience and cost-savings of providing Certificate Lifecycle Management and PKI as a cloud-hosted service. Other vendor products support on-premises installations for those businesses that want to keep certificate management in-house..
Pricing is based on the features provided and the type and number of certificates supported. Vendor price quotes are usually required. Basic introductory pricing can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month. A few limited free options are available, and some vendors offer free trials.
The use of Certificate Lifecycle Management Software offers visibility and transparency, and minimizes the need for manual certificate management, mitigating vulnerabilities and risk. It reduces IT workload, lowering costs. CLM software helps to ensure compliance and enforce security policies. Its use promotes uninterrupted secure service.
