Certificates
Understand X.509 digital certificates: structure, formats, lifecycle and local stores.
What is a digital certificate?
Definitions: certificate, subject, issuer, public key, CA signature and validity period.
Self-signed certificate vs CA certificate
Issuance differences, trust chains, internal use cases and limits for production.
PEM, DER and PKCS#12 formats
Common encodings, key/certificate containers and exchange practices that keep the private key protected.
Certificate lifecycle and revocation
Issuance, renewal, expiration, revocation and checking status with the issuer.
Certificate stores on Windows
How Windows stores are organized, user/machine scopes and locating certificates installed locally.
Essential X.509 extensions
Subject Alternative Name, key usage and basic constraints: reading a certificate without proprietary tools.