Class C certificates
Class C may be issued to persons, systems and organizations within and outside the federal administration. The certificates are used for authentication, encryption and signatures. Class C is split into the categories Standard, Customised, SSL/TLS, Group mailbox and Code Signing.
Standard
Different specifications of standard class C certificates are available. For each specification of the standard class C certificate, there is a policy describing the correct usage and the defined issuance process.
SSL/TLS
Here you will find information on the class C TLS/SSL certificate. The Swiss Government PKI has delegated the issuance of publicly trusted TLS/SSL certificates to a partner company. As a result, the issuance procedures for web TLS/SSL certificates and the registration of organisational units and domains will be adjusted in line with our partner's verification criteria and security requirements. It goes without saying that our partner's issuance procedures are also subject to international norms and standards, the rules set by the CA/Browser Forum and the associated audit procedures.
Group mailbox certificates
Group mailboxes support organisational units in handling their business processes (eGovernment). They are primarily used for the encrypted exchange of data as part of public service dealings between citizens and public administrations. In technical terms, they are soft certificates that can be installed on clients. To enable the certificates to be used on the PrivaSphere or IncaMail platform as well, the certificates offer encryption, signature and authentication functions.
Customised
The Class C customised certificates can be used for machines, persons, organisations and systems.
Public Trust Code Signing Certificate
Through an external partner, the Swiss Government PKI issues public trust code signing certificates on USB tokens for customers of the federal administration and organizations affiliated to the Confederation. Code signing certificates are used to cryptographically verify the origin and integrity of software or script files. The digital signature allows users to verify that the code actually comes from the specified developer and has not been tampered with since it was signed, which increases trust and security when installing or running applications.