HTTP Secure

Extra layer of encryption, using SSL/TLS

• protects the url, query params, headers, cookies
• address (hostname) and port are a part of the TCP protocols and cannot protect the disclosure of these
• only the server is usually authenticated, through the client examining the server's certificate
  • the public key certificate proves ownership of a public key (so that you know the server that's able to decrypt your messages is exactly who you think they are)
  • cert contains which DNS names are a part of the cert, expiry date, issuer, and of course the public key for encryption
• a certificate authority is an entity that issues certs
  • browsers come with a set of CA certs to automatically trust
  • operating systems have a list of available trusted root certs

Looking at wikipedia as an example, we see Issued by: GlobalSign Organization Validation CA

The issuer in this case is an intermediate certificate authority

The intermediate certificate authorities are owned by the root certificate authority. These are trusted using some other mechanism, such as secure physical distribution.

This forms a chain of trust from a certificate chain.

P12 cert is a file format for storing multiple cryptographic objects, or simply one private key and its associated certificate chain