Instead of maintaining lists of username and password combinations at each Web server, the company issues digital certificates to all its employees. Administrators at each server can configure the server to require a certificate signed by the corporate Certificate Authority rather than a username and password. Employees simply log on to Netscape Navigator, and Netscape Navigator presents their digital certificate to each server that demands it. These certificates work both within and outside the organization on the public Internet. Certificates free employees from having to remember user name and password combinations for each Web server access.
Certificates also lower the corporation's cost of maintaining their Web servers.
Access control for a global corporation. A Fortune 500 company uses certificates to manage access control to documents on Web servers. It sets up a Certificate Authority for each of its divisions, Engineering, Marketing, and Sales. Each Certificate Authority issues certificates for people working in its division. Web servers around the company then control access to their resources based on certificates.