Best Practices 08-05-2014

5 Tools SSL Admins In The Security Industry Should Be Using

Meggie Woodfield

At DigiCert, we ask ourselves this question on a daily basis: How can we make our customers’ jobs easier?

You already have it pretty easy. Managing a complex network composed of dozens of domains, hundreds of servers, and thousands of PCs and devices stretched across multiple continents. Not to mention regular software and hardware upgrades, hundreds of users to regularly add or remove, remote users with unique requirements, and countless other daily tasks while trying to harden every attack surface from the hackers who are relentlessly probing your defenses for a weakness.

Come to think of it, that doesn’t sound easy at all.

Easy-to-Use Tools for Complex Tasks

Managing the SSL infrastructure that keeps all of those plates spinning smoothly presents its own challenge. Various server types have their own installation instructions. Different parts of your network require different kinds of SSL certificates to secure them. Your certificates also typically have a variety of expiration dates. And, most critically, improperly configured certificates can occasionally be worse than having no certificate at all because they convey a false sense of security.

Bad actors are constantly devising new exploits. As a founding member of the CA/Browser Forum and the CA Security Council, DigiCert is proactively leading the charge to develop new security technologies while educating the IT community on SSL best practices. A big part of that endeavor is the development of powerful SSL-related tools.

Tools that we introduced over the past couple years include:

DigiCert™ Certificate Inspector

As mentioned previously, improperly installed and configured certs are probably the most common source of SSL vulnerabilities. DigiCert’s Certificate Inspector scans your network to detect all certificates in use, their configuration, and their implementation. Business intelligence-style reports show you the health of your entire network. With Certificate Inspector, you can learn what vulnerabilities are hidden on your network and how to eliminate them.

DigiCert™ SSL Discovery Tool

Can you state with 100% confidence that you know the location and expiration date of every certificate in your entire cert landscape? The SSL Discovery Tool from DigiCert allows you to scan your network and identify all of your certificates and the information you need to properly manage them.

DigiCert™ Certificate Utility for Windows

If you have a Windows environment, our Certificate Utility helps you manage your certificates, perform maintenance functions, and even re-issue certs as needed. The Express Install feature automates the tedious steps of ordering and installing new certs. The Certificate Utility also makes code signing a similarly painless process.

DigiCert™ SSL Installation Diagnostics Tool

A simple tool that has proven extremely popular, our SSL Installation Diagnostics Tool allows you to type in the name of your server and check if an SSL Certificate has been properly installed and configured.

DigiCert™ Internal Name Tool for Microsoft Exchange

Our Internal Names Tool for Microsoft Exchange walks you through the process of reconfiguring your Exchange servers to eliminate internal names and get in compliance with industry requirements.

DigiCert™ CSR Creation Wizards

DigiCert has easy-to-use CSR generators for every major server type. With these wizards, creating a CSR and placing an order has never been easier. And, with DigiCert’s unmatched validation and issuance speed, you can count on getting your certificate today—not next week.

We’re here to Help

With so many responsibilities clamoring for your divided attention, we know how challenging it is to stay completely up-to-date on every aspect of SSL best practices and defend against the most cutting-edge attacks. In support of our relentless efforts to provide industry-leading customer service, the development of complementary tools and utilities is a major focus of our development team. We hope you find them useful!

To download one of our tools, or to learn more, click on the tool’s name above.

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