cryptography, body (CA or "Trusted Third Party") An entity

(typically a company) that issues digital certificates to

other entities (organisations or individuals) to allow them to

prove their identity to others. A Certificate Authority might

be an external company such as VeriSign that offers digital

certificate services or they might be an internal organisation

such as a corporate MIS department. The Certificate

Authority's chief function is to verify the identity of

entities and issue digital certificates attesting to that

identity.