The new "Unified Communications Certificate" was launched today by DigiCert, a US-based Certification Authority specializing in High-Assurance SSL. The innovation and flexibility of this new SSL Certificate was assured by DigiCert that worked in close collaboration with Microsoft.

    The new Domain Security features of Microsoft's Unified Communications products such as MS Exchange Server 2007 and Live Communications Server are provided with flexibility by the UC Certificates. Also, communications over HTTPS, SMTP, POP/IMAP, IM, Electronic Fax, and VOIP can be protected by a single UC Certificate.

    Paul Tiemann, Director of CA Operations at DigiCert's, stated: "There's no shortage of SSL terminology out there, but behind all the buzzwords there are just two kinds of ssl certificates: Single Named and Wildcard certificates. I like to think of the UC Certificate as a hybrid which blends the strengths of both. Named certificates are issued to exact server names, such as www.domain?com. In contrast, a Wildcard certificate such as *.domain.com could cover any matching name, for example: www.domain?com, mail.domain.com, and intranet.domain.com. Wildcard certificates offer great flexibility, but some people might view that flexibility as a risk. Single Named certificates are limited to an exact server name, which does provide more control; however, they become very tedious in large numbers because you have to order, install and renew them individually."

    Thanks to the Unified Communications Certificates offered by DigiCert, flexibility and control are very well balanced and various exact server names can be covered in a single UC Certificate. In addition, the "Subject Alternate Name" field, which is a capability of SSL, is included in each UC Certificate. A list of exact server names contained in the Subject Alternate Name field can be securely accessed, even if they belong to different domains, something that cannot be done with a Wildcard certificate.

Thus, the following can be covered by using one UC Certificate:

     •     mail.buy-widgets.com
     •     mail.buy-widgets.local
     •     owa.buy-widgets.com
     •     www.buy-widgets?com
     •     www.sell-widgets?com

    A PKI Certificate Manager is provided by DigiCert. Thus, every name listed in the certificate can be removed, changed, and/or added, and the certificate can be reissued. There is no need for extra money to be paid for installing the certificate on additional servers, as an Unlimited Server License is provided by both DigiCert Wildcard certificates and UC Certificates. This could be beneficial for large organizations in particular, as they need multiple server configurations with multiple domain names. For more information, you can visit http://www.digicert.com/unified-communications-ssl-tls.htm

    Sectors such as business, education, and government can benefit from DigiCert's services, a US-based commercial CA specializing in High-Assurance SSL Certificate and Identity Assurance Services. DigiCert is a WebTrust certified certificate authority and a member of the CA/Browser Forum and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Customers can get support and are provided by DigiCert with innovative products at good prices.