What are digital certificates primarily used for?

Digital certificates are primarily used to verify the identity of a person or organization. They serve as a digital form of identification, linking an entity to a public key. When a digital certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), it provides assurance that the entity presenting the certificate is indeed who they claim to be. This is essential for establishing secure communications over the internet, as it helps prevent impersonation and facilitates trust between users and websites or services.

While encryption of data in transit is a critical function of digital communications, this process typically relies on the digital certificates to ensure that the parties involved are legitimate, thereby complementing their primary role in identity verification. The storage of passwords securely and monitoring network traffic are activities that do not directly relate to the function of digital certificates; these involve different security mechanisms and technologies.