Understanding Certificate Life Cycle and Key Management

I have completed learning on topic "Understanding Certificate Life Cycle and Key Management". Below are the summery of this topic:

• The key life cycle of a certificate is broken into seven distinct stages: certificate enrollment, certificate distribution, certificate validation, certificate revocation, certificate renewal, certificate destruction, and certificate auditing.

• During certificate enrollment, a user requests a certificate from a CA.

• Once the CA is satisfied with the credentials presented by the user requesting the certificate, the CA distributes the certificate to the user.

• If anything occurs before the expiration of the certificate that warrants the cancellation of the certificate, it is added to the CA's certificate revocation list (CRL).

• If the certificate is not revoked and reaches the expiration date, it can be renewed.

• To better manage and control certificates, CAs track various events, such as creations, revocations, renewals, and in some cases, successful usage.