The HEAnet Certificate service has been providing no-cost server certificates for the last two years to our clients in the research and education community.

The server certificates can be used for institution services, including web(HTTPS), email(IMAPS), server authentication and any number of SSL or TLS based services that require trusted certificates.

In January 2010 HEAnet announced an update to the service, following a procurement undertaken by TERENA on behalf of the European National Research and Education Networks, HEAnet has undertaken a new agreement whereby certificates will be issued via Comodo CA. The new ‘HEAnet Certificate’ service continues to offer no-cost server certificates to all our clients as well as a number of new features and services, primarily a web-based certificate administration system.

The web-based certificate administration system running in a HEAnet datacentre provides an improvement in the time between a certificate request and its delivery and allows our clients to request, approve and retrieve their certificates online. The system also provides client institutions with greater control and visibility of the certificates issued. It will also allow HEAnet to provide additional certificate services such as “client certificates” and “code signing certificates” through the web-based front end. The web-based system is also fully integrated with the Edugate federation (edugate.ie), allowing simplified institute user management and control.

In addition to the server certificates, the HEAnet/TERENA/Comodo contract offers a number of new services which HEAnet is working to integrate with the web-based system.  These services include.

• Code signing certificates - Useful for Microsoft Office documents and for custom applications such as Java applets
• Client certificates - Used for encrypting email, documents and providing authorisation to institution services
• Extended Validation (EV) certificates – For institutions requiring certificates for financial transaction they are available from Comodo at a discounted price as part of the scheme

Further information and an application form for the service are here https://certificates.heanet.ie/