What is Registration authority RA?

Understanding Registration authority RA

This performs certificate registration services on behalf of a Certificate Authority CA. A Registration Authority is an entity within a Public Key Infrastructure PKI that verifies certificate requestor identities and information before the CA issues a certificate. RAs handle the administrative tasks of identity verification allowing CAs to focus on the cryptographic functions of certificate issuance and management. RA functions are defined in standards like X.509 RFC 5280 and PKI frameworks like NIST SP 800-32. Organizations implement RAs through dedicated personnel verification processes identity proofing procedures and specialized RA software integrated with the CA infrastructure. For example a large enterprise might establish an internal Registration Authority team that verifies employee identities and attributes before requesting certificates from a third-party CA ensuring that certificates are only issued to legitimate employees with the appropriate authorizations and attributes for their roles. Related terms PKI Certificate authority Digital certificate Identity verification Certificate lifecycle Certificate enrollment X.509 Identity proofing.