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Difference Domain and Identity Certification

In domain certification, an e-mail robot sends an e-mail to an address from the WHOIS or an alternative administrative address to confirm the order. This ensures and finally certifies that the domain as well as an administrative contact exists. In the certificate only the domain is mentioned, also the SiteSeal of the Limitbreaker-Certificate, which is clickable in contrast to the usual SiteSeal technique, shows only the domain that has been certified.

In the case of identity certification, an appropriate document for the authentication of the certificate holder is requested, checked and compared with the information in the WHOIS. With the Platinum certificate, a call is also made to the certificate owner to confirm the order once again. In the certificate issued as a result, the complete details of the certificate owner are displayed. The complete data is also displayed in the real-time check via the respective TrustLogo – if available.

While identity certification is actually the only correct form of certification, many certification bodies are now also offering domain certifications. The concept of the so-called 2nd certificate generation often misleads the fact that these certificates only certify the obvious, namely the called domain, but do not offer any real identity assurance, as certificates were originally intended.

For many customers, however, it is only important to have a validated certificate in order not to have to confirm the error message that appears with self-issued certificates, or to offer their customers the corresponding encryption without annoying error messages. Very few visitors to a website nowadays really look at the certificate content or use the TrustLogo option, but unfortunately the number of pishing victims is still very high.

In general, it is recommended to choose a certificate that certifies the identity of high-priced or sensitive goods or data. A domain certificate can also be used for administrative access such as for Confixx, Plesk or CPanel, but also for small or normal shops with no particularly high-priced or sensitive articles.

Using the examples linked in the product table, you can compare how a certificate that only certifies the domain differs from a certificate that certifies the identity.