Digital certificate management is one of the key security processes an organization can have.
PKI management impacts business continuity and operations, and the security of all data and
processes depends on it. Lapses in certificate management present a top outage risk; high
volumes of certificates raise the likelihood of expiry or revocation going unnoticed if proper
systems aren’t in place to provide visibility and certificate lifecycle oversight.
The costs of mismanaged certificates are high for organizations both in financial and operational
terms. Brand reputation losses, a higher likelihood of cyberattacks, potential exposure of
sensitive data, and the costs to repair that damage impact the bottom line and disrupt
operations. Therefore, a mature PKI management program should be the goal for every
enterprise. A centralized and automated PKI infrastructure that provides a clear audit trail and
tools for compliance, integrates with DevOps and IT workflows for cryptoagility, and sets a great
foundation for implementing quantum-resistant encryption is the ideal state.
Table of Contents
Certificate Management: The Scope of the Problem
The biggest challenge of enterprise-level certificate management is volume. Digital certificates
are ubiquitous in the modern technological landscape. Websites, email, work collaboration,
productivity tools, devices, and cloud apps all rely on digital certificates to function securely and
with integrity. The technological advancements that brought about cloud services, container
systems for delivering applications, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices further contribute to the
high volume of certificates circulating in enterprise ecosystems.
Hidden certificates and shadow issuance of certificates pose further security problems. Shadow
IT refers to the use of devices, software, or servers in the work environment that have not been
authorized by the organization’s IT team. While often not malicious, usually intended to raise
productivity or speed up processes, shadow IT creates system vulnerabilities that aren’t easily
discovered due to not being on the organization’s radar. When it comes to digital certificates,
shadow issuance leads to the same problems, potentially introducing misconfigured certificates,
certificates with weak encryption, or those lacking proper revocation mechanisms into the
environment.
An enterprise PKI infrastructure may count hundreds to thousands of digital certificates, all of
which may need renewal or revocation at different points, with varying requirements that strain
human teams. Unless the certificate management program is a top priority that receives the
resources needed to mature and automate it, it likely includes a hodgepodge of certificate
scripts and tools, fragmented processes that have different owners or, worse, no owners at all. If
this is the reality of your enterprise, the urgency of reigning in the mess before you even start
thinking about getting quantum-ready cannot be overstated.
Manual vs Automated Approaches to Certificate Management
The manual approach to certificate management may work for small setups and companies with
a compact environment and only a handful of assets. Up to a certain volume, certificates can be
monitored by a dedicated team member armed with a spreadsheet; however, problems grow as
certificates proliferate, making manual solutions difficult to maintain. Growing teams create
additional sources of truth, adding human error.
Script-based certificate management is a step up from manual and certainly preferred over
spreadsheets. Scripts are vulnerable to breaking and staff turnover, but most importantly, the
automation they provide is rigid by design, unable to nimbly respond and adapt without heavy
human intervention. At an enterprise level, the benefits of a truly centralized system become
impossible to ignore.
Centralized discovery and renewal of certificates is a major component of a mature PKI
environment, which reduces manual load and human error. The discovery element provides a
cohesive view of all certificates currently deployed in the environment, which can also flag
anomalies and errors, allowing for a quick response. Automating the renewal part of the
certificate lifecycle reduces outages for the same reason—as the system keeps track of all the
certificates automatically, there is no frantic rush to renew when an expiry causes a service to
go down.
Custom API integrations and international standards, like the Automated Certificate
Management Environment (ACME) protocol, help automate interactions between certificate
authorities (CAs) and their users, significantly simplifying the process of obtaining and deploying
certificates for securing email, servers, websites, and other assets. ACME, in particular, is fast
becoming a universally adopted component of enterprise security and a core component of
certificate management automation that works with all PKI platforms and management
solutions.
Key Capabilities to Implement
Centralization is crucial for PKI management, but a mature certificate management system goes
beyond that. Consider the following key capabilities to implement for an enterprise digital
certificate program that reaps the benefits of automation and conforms to the highest industry
standards:
● Continuous discovery: Not only taking full stock of the PKI infrastructure, but keeping it
current, scanning for new certificates and alerting for shadow IT and rogue certificates.
Alerting catches anomalies and flags expiring, misconfigured, or revoked certificates for
their swift replacement or removal.
● Template-based certificate issuance: Standardize the PKI lifecycle processes from
code signing requests (CSRs) to certificate issuance by CAs, reducing response time
and lowering the risk of human error in repeatable processes.
● Role-based access control (RBAC): Set strict criteria for who can access, modify or
change permissions within the systems that support the PKI infrastructure. The principle
of least privilege, or giving permissions only for strictly necessary functions, provides
more security than individual user permissions.
● Reporting, audit, and policy controls: Formulate and adhere to your own security
policies to stay compliant and audit-ready, especially in light of new PQC regulations or
industry developments.
A mature PKI environment integrates into an organization’s daily operations. It must fit
seamlessly into the IT, security, and DevOps workflows to ensure that its complexity and the
demands of security standards do not create insurmountable friction and unduly slow down
innovation. The balance between performance and security is a delicate one, especially with the
impending arrival of quantum computing.
Best Practices to Prepare for PQC
Thankfully, there are numerous ways for large enterprises to integrate certificate management
into their technological ecosystem and prepare for a post-quantum cryptography (PQC)
transition. What could good certificate management look like in the quantum era? The PQC
transition plan should include the following steps:
1. Taking a full inventory of all cryptographic assets of the enterprise, including certificates,
keys, and algorithms.
2. Identifying and prioritizing high-risk systems that require early PQC migration and
implementing support for dual (hybrid) certificates during the transition period.
3. Preparing the PKI infrastructure to support post-quantum algorithms, such as enabling
discovery tools that provide PQC visibility, choosing a certificate management platform
with crypto-agility capabilities, and updating certificate issuance workflows to include
PQC-compatible algorithms. Integrating role-based access, audit logging, and
governance for PQC operations is also essential for this step.
4. Training PKI and IT teams on hybrid certificate handling and crypto-agile practices.
5. Automating certificate renewal and replacement for both classical and PQC certificates.
6. Aligning certificate lifecycle policies with new shorter validity periods (e.g., 90 to 47
days).
7. Continuously monitoring cryptographic systems for outdated or non-compliant algorithms
and regularly testing certificate automation workflows for PQC readiness and fallback
support.
Conclusion
With scaling digital certificate infrastructure comes an increased risk of interruptions, outages,
and vulnerabilities introduced by certificate misconfiguration and expiry. Building a mature
certificate management program at an enterprise level is not only a way to increase visibility,
efficiency, and accuracy of digital certificate management, but also to reduce operational risk,
lower the potential of data exposure, and strengthen the overall security posture of an
organization. Robust PKI is inseparable from a healthy IT infrastructure.
Enterprises considering changes to their PKI programs should be ready to implement a phased
rollout plan. Its first target should be the discovery and the centralization of all certificates in the
environment. Next, prioritize automating certificate lifecycles and monitoring to lower outage
risks, work to integrate PKI with DevOps and ITSM initiatives, and then consider future threats.
With the dawning era of quantum computing, investing in crypto-agility is the perfect start to
getting quantum-ready today.
