Certificate management

Certificates are used in information technology to uniquely identify people or servers. PKI (public key infrastructure) refers to a system that enables digital certificates to be issued, distributed and checked. The so-called user certificate is used to uniquely authenticate a person. The server certificate is used to identify a server.

All Uni-Siegen certificates are issued (signed) by a trustworthy certification authority (CA). On-site processing (e.g. checking identities using the ID card) is carried out by a local Registration Authority (RA).

With the help of user certificates, it is possible to sign files or e-mails, clearly identify the authorship of a signed document, check for changes during transmission or encrypt data. The server certificate can be used to ensure that I am connected to the correct server (e.g. for SSL connections).

In order to apply for a user certificate, the person submitting the application must undergo a one-off identity check.

Notes

For most employees of the University of Siegen, the identity check has already taken place during the recruitment process, which is why you can apply for a user certificate without further verification. If you receive an error message when logging in to Sectigo, you do not belong to this group of people and must identify yourself. For the necessary steps, please contact ZIMT technical support by email at support@zimt.uni-siegen.de.

• Students can only apply for user certificates.
• Students must always identify themselves once.