What are the SSL/TLS certificate Assurance Levels?

Article Number: 000070630

Defining the assurance levels for SSL/TLS certificates

Some business entities, especially Government or Financial institutions, will require clients to use certificates with a Medium or High level of assurance for digital transactions. The requirements often state that Class 2 or Class 3 Certificates must be used. What does this mean?

Class 1 Certificates are considered to be low assurance, as the verification method simply confirms that the Subscriber controls the asserted email address. No verification checks of the Subscriber’s identity are performed. This level of validation is referred to as Domain Validation (DV).

Class 2 Certificates are considered to be medium assurance. They provide a greater level of assurance over Class 1 Certificates, because in addition to email address control, basic verification steps are performed to confirm the identity of the Subscriber. This level of validation is referred to as Organization Validation (OV). 

Class 3 Certificates provide a high level of assurance. They are issued only after rigorous validation of the identity of the Subscriber. This level of validation is referred to as Extended Validation (EV).

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