Automating SSL/TLS Certificates and the Network Impact
How does automation work in Complete
Website Security?
The automation capabilities
in our subscription-based
certificate management
service help you:
To give your organization complete control over its SSL/TLS certificates, our
Complete Website Security solution automates SSL/TLS certificate renewals in
your web environment. For web servers it uses automation agent software. For web
appliances such as load balancers it uses agentless automation software. We also
provide an automation toolkit that lets you extend our automation capabilities to
• Automate certificate
• Reduce time, money,
additional application platforms.
and resources spent on
certificate management
As part of the automation process, strategically located sensors scan for and
• Easily discover and
manage SSL/TLS certificates distributed throughout your network. We store
remediate certificate
your discovered certificate information on our secure cloud infrastructure. Using
compliance issues
the deployed sensors as secure links, the automation software communicates
• Simplify certificate planning,
over encrypted channels with our cloud to determine when certificates need to
budgeting, and purchasing
be renewed. The basic steps carried out by the automation software include the
• Strengthen your certificate
following:
posture
1. Generate certificate signing requests (CSRs) with associated private keys on a
• Shrink your vulnerability
window with short-term
scheduled date and time.
validity certificates
2. Upload CSRs for approval and new certificate generation. Approval can
lifecycle management
• Simplify and speed up
be automatic if configured.
certificate renewals
3. Download new certificates and deploy them to target servers or devices at
• Know the location and
scheduled dates and times, or upon user confirmation.
status of all your keys and
4. Scan servers or devices to validate the successful installation of new certificates.
certificates
• Eliminate human error
Complete Website Security
Console Secure Cloud Platform
Discover certi?cates
Automate certi?cate renewal
Manage console users
Set up noti?cations
View audit logos
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PS
TT
(H
n
io
at
Sensors
Discover and manage
SSL certi?cates
Automation agent tools
Manage automated
certi?cate renewal and
replacement
related vulnerabilities
and costs
• Easily and seamlessly
consolidate your certificate
inventory with a single
trusted vendor
po
lli
n
g
Secure
communication
Agentless Automation (for load balancers)
Automation controlled through sensor
d
lou
ec
th
Se
cu
re
co
m
m
un
i
c
Se
ns
or
Local Agent Automation (for web servers)
Automation agent installed on host
Almost 80% of
businesses are affected
by certificate related
outages1
ENTERPRISE NETWORK
1
Source: SC Media magazine, February 2017
3 I DigiCert, Inc.
How difficult is it to deploy automation?
Our automation software has also been extensively tested
As can be expected, deployment efforts vary by
in our labs to prevent compatibility issues. Still, as is the
organization. Most large enterprises will simply use their
case with any new deployment or change, we recommend
own existing tools to automate the deployment. Whether
that organizations perform their own internal testing to
you choose to manually deploy the solution or automate the
ensure no issues arise due to the unique aspects and
effort, we will work with you to help the deployment go as
configuration of their website environment.
smoothly as possible. As part of this assistance, we provide
a one-day on-premise workshop to educate you on the
automation solution’s architecture and how it works. We’ll
We already have a certificate workflow process. Why do
we need automation?
also review your environment and recommend deployment
Even if you have an efficient workflow process, any manual
best practices to ensure you’re staying compliant with
activities within that workflow will consume your time.
industry regulations.
For example, if you have a thousand certificates that need
to be renewed annually, only fifteen minutes of manual
Our global customer success managers provide assistance,
interactions add up to 250 hours per year that you could
answering questions or walking you through different
save by using automation.2 Additionally, those hours of
aspects of the deployment. If you want more hands-on
manual labor will quadruple if short-term validity certificates
assistance or want to leave the actual deployment to
of 90-days or less become the standard, which could likely
us, you also have the option to take advantage of our
be not too far off in the future.2
professional services.
In addition to the time savings, automation can eliminate
Also, you don’t have to automate all your certificates. Based
human errors that can occur during certificate installation
on your needs, you have the flexibility to only automate
as well as avoid certificate chain errors. You can also enjoy
certificate renewals on a subset of your servers. This lets
the peace of mind that comes from eliminating unexpected
you take a phased approach on your overall automation
certificate expirations and increased business continuity.
deployment. But once you deploy automation for any set
Automated certificate renewals also help you to maintain
of certificates, the big benefit is that you’ve eliminated all
compliance and uphold both policy and industry standards.
future manual efforts to renew those certificates–saving
you time and money, and ensuring you’re always compliant.
Can we integrate automation with our ticketing system?
The level of integration possible depends on your specific
Will automation impact my server performance
environment. We can work with you to determine an
and stability?
integration approach best suited for you.
Automation has been designed to minimize impact on
your servers’ resources. The automation agents in your
environment remain in suspended sleep mode until
activated for renewal. During sleep mode the agent issues
a heartbeat signal to the cloud and only wakes it when a
certificate needs to be renewed. How often this occurs will
depend on the validity period of your certificates.
How will automation impact my headcount?
The time savings that automation delivers allows you to
reallocate your high skill IT resources to more productive
and profitable activities. If you’re currently using contractors
to perform certificate renewals, automation allows you to
eliminate that expense.
Following best practices, we will help you determine the
optimal configuration and scheduling settings for your
environment. This will help make sure there is minimal
impact on your servers when the agents are active even if
you have a large number of certificates.
4 I DigiCert, Inc.
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