What is the purpose of a digital certificate?

The purpose of a digital certificate is to provide proof of public key ownership. Digital certificates are used in various security protocols to explicitly associate a public key with the individual, organization, or device that owns it. They are issued by trusted entities known as Certificate Authorities (CAs). A digital certificate contains the public key along with information about the identity of the certificate holder and the CA that issued the certificate, including a digital signature from the CA.

This association allows users and systems to verify that the public key indeed belongs to the entity claiming it, helping to establish trust in secure communications. In scenarios like SSL/TLS for web security, this mechanism ensures that the party on the other side of the connection is legitimate, thereby reducing the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks.

The other choices focus on distinct aspects of cybersecurity but do not accurately describe the primary function of a digital certificate. While encrypting data during transmission is crucial for ensuring confidentiality, this function is not the primary role of a digital certificate itself. Identifying malware is related to detection methods rather than authentication and trust establishment, and storing sensitive data securely pertains to data protection practices, not the role of digital certificates in validating identity and ownership of keys.