CertIZDAT FAQ page

Explanation about certificates

• What is SSL certificate?
  

  An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that establishes a secure, encrypted connection between a web server and a web browser. When a website has an SSL certificate installed, it means that all data exchanged between the server and the browser are encrypted and secure from unauthorized access. This helps to protect sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card details, and other personal information, from being intercepted by malicious third parties. You can tell if a website has an SSL certificate by looking for the padlock icon in the browser address bar and the "https" prefix in the website URL.

• What is Russian Trusted CA

  It appears that some companies are currently experiencing difficulties in obtaining SSL Certificates from Certification Authorities. The Ministry of Communications has set up its own "trusted" certification centre to issue certificates, but these certificates are not considered secure by most browsers, except for Russian ones.
  Since we do not know the conditions under which certificates are created in the Russian CA, and they certainly do not meet the standards for normal CAs, we cannot trust them. Maybe they are doing well there, or maybe they are creating special additional "private keys" for the other "authorities".

• What is self-signed certificates

  Self-signed web certificates are created and signed by the website owner instead of a trusted Certificate Authority, which can pose a security risk as the site's identity cannot be verified. Attackers can also create fake self-signed certificates to intercept and potentially modify information transmitted between the user and the website, known as a Man-in-the-Middle attack.

• Some of the strange detected self-signed certificates issuer by Russia

  SberCA, St. Petersburg, VTB Group, Bank GPB, Администрация Партизанского городского округа, Kaliningrad, Sigma-REZERV, Moscow, Stavrolop, Saint Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, Bryansk, sklif, SAMARA, Samara, SPb, Vladimir, s-t-ORK, Donetsk, Karelia, favr.ru, Plesk, Stavropol, Yaroslav, 77 Москва, tatarstan, Internet Widgits Pty Ltd, 77 г. Москва, KRSK, kb-CA, ddos-guard, jarnet-DCEAOS-CA, voronezh, GTN-SRV-CA, TULA, rostobr-SRV-DHCP-VLAN-CA, Rostov-on-Don, Pskov, SUB.CA.GOVRB.RU, N.Novgorod, RU, sovet-nso.ru, mx.all.culture.ru, CAP root CA, Certum Certification Authority, Khanty-Mansiysk, mail.khbr.meteorf.ru, Saransk, ИТ, SomeCity, krs, UserGate, XX, Finance Dept, Oldestatehotel, Axelname LLC, IT-Group Certificate Authority, No-Sni, Yekaterinburg, ca-8347055488260305674.