Cisco Cyber Security Practice Exam

A digital certificate authenticates and verifies that a user sending a message is who they claim to be. True or False?

1. True

2. False

3. Depends on the issuer

4. Only if expired

The correct answer is: True

A digital certificate plays a crucial role in establishing identity in electronic communications. It is a digitally signed document issued by a trusted authority, which confirms that the public key contained within it belongs to a specific entity—be it an individual, organization, or device. When a user sends a message accompanied by their digital certificate, the recipient can verify the sender’s identity by checking the validity of the certificate against the trusted root authorities. The certificate includes key information like the identity of the owner, the public key, and the issuer's digital signature. This process of verification ensures that the message is genuinely from the claimed sender and has not been altered in transit, thereby enabling secure communication. The other options imply conditions or circumstances under which a certificate may not authenticate a user, which does not fundamentally change the primary purpose of a digital certificate—identity verification. For instance, the issuer's credibility is indeed significant, but the inherent function of a digital certificate is to provide authentication based on trust established by the issuer.