Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Certbot OS software tool sponsored by Sectigo
Lindsay Kent of Sectigo
Commercial Certificate Authority (CA) Sectigo, a provider of purpose-built and automated PKI management solutions, is sponsoring Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) free, open-source software tool, Certbot. The aim is to support efforts to encrypt the entire internet and build a network that is more structurally private, safe, and protected against censorship.
Required certificate lifetimes are being reduced by browsers, and all entities on the web are confronted with the problem of certificate expiration. While an email notification of certificate expiry is helpful, automatically replacing certificates removes the chance of human error and reduces costs, empowering enterprises to be more agile to change.
The industry benefits from a collaborative, open standard environment that enables everyone to move more quickly to secure the internet. EFF and Sectigo’s open standard collaboration enables certificate issuance and renewal automation beyond Domain Validated (DV) certificates and extends to both Organisational Validated (OV) certificates and Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, which are the foundation for not only encrypting communication, but also authentication of a website’s legal owners. In addition, the Sectigo solution integrates a central certificate management portal that many customers find beneficial as they can track and monitor their certificates to be compliant to their IT policies.
Max Hunter
“We are pleased to work with Sectigo to advance the functionality of our Certbot tool,” said Max Hunter, engineering director, EFF. “Collaborating with an industry leader like Sectigo has helped to amplify EFF’s ability to address emerging web-based threats. Sectigo’s support and sponsorship play an important role in EFF’s ability to make the internet safer by extending our capabilities for digital certificate renewal automation.”
Sectigo’s collaboration with EFF expands on the company’s commitment to advancing the cybersecurity industry. In May, Sectigo also announced sponsorship of Internet Security Research Group’s (ISRG) Let’s Encrypt, a free, automated, and open CA run for the public’s benefit, to ensure the fabric of certificate transparency logs is adequate for the world’s certificate needs.
“Internet security, and particularly PKI, depends on industry collaboration to ensure interoperability and consistently high levels of security,” said Lindsay Kent, VP of Product Management, Sectigo. “With the CA/Browser Forum currently considering a ballot to reduce the maximum TLS certificate lifespan to one year, it has become more important than ever to offer a broad selection of automation capabilities to the market. Sectigo’s sponsorship of EFF’s Certbot tool is another step toward making automated certificates the de facto standard.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a non-profit organisation defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. The organisation works to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows.
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