SURFcertificates

About SURFcertificates: IT security tool

A certificate ensures the encryption of communication between systems and provides authentication. With SURFcertificates, you can make large-scale use of certificates at relatively low cost, including:

• TLS/SSL server certificates
• Personal (S/MIME) certificates for all employees
• Grid (IGTF) certificates for e-science environments
• Code-signing certificates
• Document-signing certificates

For a fixed monthly fee, an institution can request unlimited server, client, and authentication certificates with basic or organisation validation (OV). All other certificates from the provider, or those with extended validation (EV), can be obtained at a discount. There are also options for Qualified eSignatures and eSeals that comply with the requirements of the EU Regulation 910/2014 (also known as eIDAS).

Certificates from a trusted party with SURF support

To deliver this service, we work with a Certificate Authority (CA) that is part of the PKI ecosystem and trusted by all major root stores. From 2025 onwards, this will be HARICA (Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions CA), a European organization affiliated with Greek universities. You will also see this name appear in the certificates. SURF manages the environment in which each institution has its own sub-environment. In addition to providing a portal for requesting certificates, SURF offers support and advice to institutional administrators on all matters related to certificates, certificate management, and compliance with modern internet standards for cryptographic signing and encryption.

Issuing certificates via portal and via ACME

Certificates can be issued through a web interface for end users or administrators, but also via the ACME protocol. With this kind of automation, the management burden around certificate usage is reduced. For questions, you can directly contact SURF administrators. We are happy to think along with you about automation or specific applications.

Who is SURFcertificates intended for?

You use this service as an administrator of web servers or as an IT security officer. You can easily apply for SURFcertificates online via My SURF. You can use SURFcertificates if your institution is affiliated to SURF.