A Domain Validation (DV) certificate is the most common kind of TLS certificate. The certificate authority confirms only that the applicant controls the domain, typically through a DNS record, a file served over HTTP or an email to an approved address. It does not vet the business behind the site.
Why it matters
DV certificates give the same encryption strength as any other type and can be issued in seconds, which is why free ACME-based CAs issue only DV. For most websites and APIs they are the right choice.
The limitation is that a padlock says the connection is encrypted to the domain, not that the site is trustworthy. Phishing sites routinely use DV certificates. Organization Validation (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) certificates add identity checks, but modern browsers no longer show prominent special indicators for them, so the practical benefit is mostly for compliance or partner requirements.
Example
Inspect the issuer and subject:
openssl x509 -in cert.pem -noout -subject -issuerA DV certificate usually shows only CN=example.com in the subject, with no organization (O=) field.
Common mistakes
- Treating a valid padlock as proof a site is legitimate.
- Paying for OV/EV expecting a green address bar.
- Forgetting that DV validation must be repeated at every renewal.
Related
Get notified when this term updates
Plus occasional practical tips on uptime and monitoring, nothing else. Unsubscribe anytime.
यह पेज सामान्य जानकारी है, जिसे हमारी संपादकीय टीम ने लिखा है और दस्तावेज़ीकरण बदलने पर अपडेट किया जाता है। सर्वर और प्रदाता अलग-अलग होते हैं, इसलिए बदलाव पहले सुरक्षित तरीके से जाँचें। देखें: संपादकीय नीति और अस्वीकरण.