Although our terminal is ready to work at the same time that we turn it on for the first time, the truth is that there are times when its security will make us have to make use of the famous digital certificates. This option is available on all Android terminals and can be essential to successfully carry out some procedures.
Security is one of the most important sections of our smartphones. As we say, there are specific moments in which an application or the network needs a certificate that we do not have , and that we must use in order to carry out a specific task or procedure.
What are the digital certificates?
So-called digital certificates identify computers, phones and applications for security reasons. A comparable example can be our driver’s license, used to show that we can drive legally. In the same way, a digital certificate identifies our device and confirms the access permissions it has.
In our mobile we can find several types of devices. The first ones are installed in the system itself, and are active so that all the functions of our mobile can operate normally. The second are those that we have installed manually to access certain services, such as the web pages of state services, where the security level is high for obvious reasons.
If we access Settings / Security / Encryption and credentials, we can take a look at all these certifications. As we say, the objective is that our terminal can access a large number of functions without problem. For example, if we look at the long list, we will see some such as “Google Trust Services”, in charge of operating with the certificates of both Google and all of Alphabet.
How are new certificates installed?
As it is increasingly common to carry out procedures that require the exchange of sensitive information, it is possible that on some occasion we have to install a digital certificate. For example, in Spain, it is the National Currency and Stamp Factory, which acts as “Certification Services Provider”, making different types of electronic certificates available to us by means of which we can identify ourselves and carry out formal procedures. secure over the Internet.
To install new certificates, we must first have downloaded the file from the corresponding website. Once done, we tap on Settings / Security / Encryption and credentials. Now we touch on Install Certificates from storage.
In the upper left part we touch “install from storage” and select the location where we have saved the certificate . We touch the file and write the name for the certificate. Finally we select VPN, Applications or Wi-Fi.
The path may change, since within “Install certificates” we can directly find the choice to install the three types of certificates, and click on each of them:
- CA Certificates – These are what allow websites, applications, and VPNs to encrypt data.
- User Certificate: also known as Citizen Certificate, it is a digital document that contains our identification data. It allows you to identify yourself on the Internet and exchange information with other people and organizations with the guarantee that only we and the other interlocutor can access them.
- Wi-Fi certificate: allows you to install the certificate that gives access to private Wi-Fi networks with high levels of security, such as the Wi-Fi of a university.
Remove personal certificates
It is possible that we no longer need a certificate, or for security reasons, we want to revoke its presence in our system. In this case, it will always be important to be careful not to delete any certificates from the system, which are necessary for the phone to work properly. In this case we go back to Settings / Security / Encryption and Credentials. Then, in Credential storage we touch on “delete credentials” and accepted.
