emCA Certificate Manager

The Streamlined and Secure PKI Solution

Current Verson: emCA V4.3.1

Release Date: 30/05/2025

Introduction

emCA, an integrated certificate management solution with a web interface that automates requesting, approving, issuing, and renewing certificates. By reducing manual tasks, it helps organizations enforce consistent certificate policies and decreases the administrative effort required for lifecycle management.

Summary

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a framework for secure digital communication and data exchange. Within this ecosystem, an essential component is the issuance of digital certificates which validate the identity of entities involved in online transactions. emCA (eMudhra Certificate Authority), an enterprise-grade PKI solution, is a centralized certificate management system. It handles certificate issuance, distribution, renewal, and revocation centrally.

emCA issues certificates containing public keys and identity information. Relying parties use these certificates to verify identities in online transactions. It uses cryptographic algorithms to protect data integrity and confidentiality.

emCA records certificate operations and maintains compliance with industry standards and regulations. It supports audit requirements and external reviews. It can be deployed in finance, healthcare, and government sectors.

emCA includes a web interface and automation features for certificate workflows. It provides tools for monitoring certificate status and performing lifecycle operations.

Technical Highlights

Designed for Scalability

emCA connects to existing IT environments via standard protocols and supports both on-premises and cloud deployments.

Management Tools

emCA management tools enable administrators to monitor certificate status and carry out lifecycle operations, such as issuance, renewal, revocation and expiration. Audit logs and reporting functions record each action for compliance and review.

CA Supporting Modules emCA includes modules for Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP), timestamping, and Registration Authority (RA) operations. Each module integrates with the core certificate-issuance engine under a unified platform.

PKI Framework Integration emCA integrates with public key infrastructures via standard protocols and includes:

  • EAL 4+ Common Criteria Certification emCA has been evaluated at Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ under the Common Criteria standard (ISO/IEC 15408), confirming conformity to defined assurance requirements.

  • Post-Quantum Cryptography Support emCA can issue certificates using NIST-approved post-quantum algorithms (for example, Dilithium, Falcon, Sphincs+), enabling deployment of quantum-resistant key pairs.

RA Integration, Migration & Compliance

emCA simplifies RA integration, migration of existing certificate infrastructures, and maintains compliance with WebTrust standards.

  • RA Integration

    Integrates with Registration Authority systems via REST APIs and LDAP to automate certificate request submission and approval.

  • Migration Tools

    Supports migration of existing certificate inventories, CA hierarchies, and policy configurations using import utilities and guided wizards with minimal service interruption.

  • Compliance

    Aligns with WebTrust and CA/B Forum compliance for Certification Authorities by generating audit logs and operational controls for external audits and regulatory reviews.

IoT and Remote Signing Support

  • IoT Certificate Issuance Issues certificates for Internet of Things devices via standard enrolment protocols (for example, SCEP and EST), enabling secure device authentication and communications.

  • ETSI-Compliant Remote Signing Supports ETSI-compliant remote signing for both short-lived and long-lived key pairs, in line with digital-signature workflows and mobile-authentication requirements.

Key Features

Hierarchy and Policy Management

  • Manages root, subordinate, and issuing CAs in one system, each with independent policy sets.

  • Defines certificate/CRL formats, validity rules, revocation methods (OCSP, CRL, delta-CRL), distribution points, and key usages per profile.

Certificate Types

  • Device certificates for machines and IoT devices.

  • SSL/TLS certificates for web‐server encryption.

  • Code‐signing certificates for software integrity.

  • S/MIME email certificates for message encryption and signing.

  • Client certificates for application and service authentication.

  • Document‐signing certificates for electronic documents.

  • Extended‐Validation (EV) certificates under CAB Forum requirements.

  • EMV certificates for payment‐card security.

  • CVC certificates for card verification codes.

Certificate Transparency

  • Publishes certificate entries to trusted logs per RFC 6962.

  • Embeds Signed Certificate Timestamps (SCTs) in issued certificates.

Algorithm Support

  • Traditional: DSA, RSA, ECC (secp-192/256/384/521; brainpool curves; prime224v1; Ed25519), SHA-2 family.

  • Post-Quantum: NIST-approved schemes (CRYSTALS-Dilithium2/3/5; Falcon-512/1024; SPHINCS+).

Protocol Support

  • SCEP, CMP, ACME, EST for automated enrolment and renewal.

  • SOAP and REST APIs for certificate requests, renewals, revocations, and status checks.

Integration and Interfaces

  • LDAP: Active Directory and OpenLDAP integration; automated distribution of certificates and CRLs; LDIF export; LDAP v3 compliance (RFC 4519, RFC 4524).

  • SAML: Single Sign-On support via existing SAML-based IAM systems.

  • OID Management: Predefined and custom OIDs for subject attributes (e.g., Country, Organization, Common Name, Serial Number).

Stand-Alone Utilities

  • Root CA Offline: Desktop utility compatible with TEMPEST-rated machines.

  • API Gateway: Secure, signed, and encrypted SOAP/REST interfaces for third-party integration (for example, sign servers and eMudhra portals).

Localization

  • Supports multi-language certificate values and mixed-language subject fields.

Authentication Controls

  • Enforces digital-signature certificates on FIPS-certified tokens for administrator access.

  • Integrates with external MFA systems (for example, Active Directory, IDAM).

How emCA works?

emCA is implemented in Java and runs on any JVM-compatible environment. It is hardware-agnostic and no dependencies on a specific server or appliance.

Core Components

  • Application Engine Deployed as a standalone WAR/EAR in any Java EE container.

  • Persistence Layer Stores certificates, policies, and audit records in a relational database (for example, PostgreSQL or MySQL).

  • Cryptographic Module Integrates with any FIPS-compliant HSM via PKCS#11 or uses a software keystore for key storage.

  • APIs REST endpoints for automated certificate requests, renewals, revocations, and status checks.

Integrations

  • Directory Services Connects to LDAP systems (for example, Active Directory, OpenLDAP) for user and RA data.

  • External CAs Supports chaining to external root CAs and cross-certification workflows.

  • Logging & Audit Writes compliance logs to both database and filesystem for external review.

Deployment Modes

  • Standalone Single-node installation for small-scale or test environments.

  • Clustered Multi-node setup, load-balanced, and fail-over capable for high availability.

Licensing

emCA is available under different license models tailored to deployment and usage requirements:

  • Perpetual License One-time purchase for on-premises installation. Includes an initial 12-month maintenance and support terms, annual renewals available thereafter.

  • Instance-Based License

    Priced by the total number of emCA application instances deployed, regardless of issuance volume.

  • Subscription License Term-based (annual or multi-year) license covering software use, updates, and support. Scales by number of CAs or certificate-issuance volume.

  • Capacity-Based License Tiered by certificate-issuance throughput (for example, Certificate per year). Allows alignment of licensing costs with operational demands.

  • Managed-Service License Hosted deployment under a service-level agreement. Covers software, infrastructure, and managed support.

Licenses are issued with defined expiration dates and must be renewed prior to expiry to maintain uninterrupted operation and access to updates. License entitlements, such as feature bundles and support levels vary by model and tier.

Use Cases

emCA supports a wide range of use cases for diverse applications and industries. Here are a few typical emCA use cases.

National PKI

  • CA Hierarchy Deployment

    • Configure root, subordinate, and issuing CAs with emCA’s CA setup tools

    • Define and publish Certificate Policy and Practice Statement (CP/CPS)

  • RA Management

    • Verify entity identities via the RA module

    • Automate certificate request approvals

  • Key Management & Distribution

    • Generate, store, and distribute cryptographic keys

    • Issue certificates over secure channels or hardware tokens

  • Regulatory Compliance

    • Enforce legal and regulatory frameworks via policy controls

    • Support audit and incident-response planning

EMV Payment-Card PKI

  • Certificate Lifecycle

    • Issue, renew, and revoke EMV certificates for cards and terminals

    • Maintain audit logs and reporting for PCI DSS compliance

  • Transaction Security

    • Enable card and terminal authentication

    • Support offline transactions with signed data

ePassport PKI

  • Basic Access Control (BAC)

    • Manage Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) and Document Signers

    • Issue certificates for chip data signing

  • Extended Access Control (EAC)

    • Configure Card Verifiable Certificate Authority (CVCA) and DVCAs

    • Issue terminal and verifier certificates

Smart-Device PKI (Energy Sector)

  • Enrolment & Issuance

    • Enroll smart meters and IoT devices via REST/SCEP requests

    • Bind device identifiers to public keys in issued certificates

  • Trust & Data Security

    • Establish trust between devices and central systems

    • Sign and encrypt meter data for transmission

Industrial IoT Security

  • Large-Scale Certificate Management

    • Automate issuance, renewal, suspension, and revocation at scale

    • Support REST, SOAP[R1] , SCEP, and SAML for device workflows

  • Security Controls

    • Apply PKI-based encryption and digital signatures

    • Align device-identity policies with organizational standards

EAL 4+ Certification

EAL 4+ Functionalities in emCA

  • Access Control Enforces role-based policies for administrative and operator functions.

  • Auditability Records security-relevant events for review and compliance.

  • Data Protection Applies approved cryptographic measures to data at rest and in transit.

  • System Integrity Validates tamper resistance of code and configurations.

  • Secure Communications Uses encrypted channels for all management interfaces.

  • Authentication Requires multi-factor methods for administrator access.

  • Security Function Reliability Verifies feature execution under defined test conditions.

  • Lifecycle Management Follows defined processes for updates, patches, and re-evaluation.

References

NextKey Components

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