CAcert

About

CAcert.org is a community-driven Certificate Authority that provides free digital certificates to the public, specializing in encryption, authentication, PKI, and HTTPS. Operating entirely online, its product portfolio includes support for GPG/PGP Encryption, PGP Encryption, S/MIME, SSL, and secure email certification. While offering its services without charge, CAcert suffered a significant security breach that led to the removal of its public certificates from all major browsers and operating systems. This critical event severely compromised its market position, rendering any website using a CAcert-issued certificate as untrusted and leading to recommendations that the service be avoided due to its irreversible security compromise. The organization's unique model as a free, community-led CA has been overshadowed by these trust issues.