Overview

Microsoft's ADCS on Windows provides customizable services for creating and managing public key certificates used in software security systems employing public key infrastructure. Organizations use certificates to enhance security by binding the identity of a person, device, or service to a corresponding private key.

A server configured as a certification authority (CA) provides the management features needed to regulate certificate distribution and use. ADCS is the Windows Server service that provides the core functionality for Windows Server CAs. ADCS provides customizable services for managing certificates for a particular CA and for the enterprise.

The root of trust in a public key infrastructure is the CA. Fundamental to this trust is the CA’s root cryptographic signing key, which is used to sign the public keys of certificate holders and more importantly its own public key. Microsoft ADCS integrates with a ProtectServer 3 HSM to secure the root encryption key.

Using Thales HSMs to secure the Microsoft ADCS root key provides the following benefits:

• Secure generation, storage and protection of the Identity signing private key on FIPS-validated hardware.

• Full life-cycle management of the keys.