CertiShielder™ terminology reference. Each entry has a stable anchor for internal linking.
Digital certificate · X.509 · TLS · Chain of trust · mTLS · PKI · Electronic signature · Qualified electronic signature (QES) · QTSP · eIDAS · Timestamping · EviDNA™ · ACME · PAdES · CAdES · XAdES · OCSP · SAN
A digital document binding a public key to a subject, signed by an authority (or self-signed), according to the applicable profile (often X.509). In HTTPS, it helps the browser verify that it is talking to the right server before establishing the TLS session.
Public-key certificate standard widely used on the Internet. A typical certificate binds an identity (subject), a public key and an authority signature (issuer), with a validity period. Internet profile: RFC 5280.
Transport Layer Security — protocol for protecting communications (authentication, integrity, session confidentiality). Ref.: RFC 8446 (TLS 1.3). SSL designates the historical predecessors, now replaced by TLS in practice.
Sequence of certificates (leaf, intermediates, root) that lets you climb back to a trust anchor already present on the system or in the browser. Without a complete and valid chain, verification often fails.
Mutual TLS — mutual authentication where the client also presents a certificate, in addition to the server. Useful for APIs or machine-to-machine exchanges that require identity proof on both sides.
Public Key Infrastructure: policies, roles and components (authorities, repositories, revocation) for issuing and verifying certificates.
Data linked to electronic content used to verify its integrity and origin under a technical and, where applicable, regulatory framework (e.g. eIDAS).
Signature level provided for by eIDAS, subject to specific conditions (including a qualified provider / QTSP as applicable).
Qualified Trust Service Provider — qualified trust service provider within the meaning of eIDAS.
Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services.
For an external re-reading, the European Commission also publishes public validators, for example DSS Validation and the eIDAS / EFDA tests. They are useful for re-reading a signature or a chain of trust, with an important nuance: a local anchor absent from eIDAS qualified lists may lead to an indeterminate result without, on its own, meaning forgery.
Time proof associated with data, often via an RFC 3161 token issued by a Time Stamping Authority (TSA).
Procedural proof technology delivered in Seal Soft (ACGT genome, TrustSequence, manifesto). Distinct from content encryption and from QES.
Automatic Certificate Management Environment (RFC 8555) — protocol for automating certificate issuance and renewal.
ETSI electronic signature profiles for PDF documents.
ETSI advanced electronic signature profiles in CMS format.
ETSI advanced electronic signature profiles in XML format.
Online Certificate Status Protocol — checking a certificate’s revocation status (RFC 6960).
Subject Alternative Name — X.509 extension listing the names (DNS, IP…) associated with the certificate.
