(O) "An authority trusted by one or more users to create and assign certificates. Optionally, the certification authority may create the user's keys." [X509]

(C) Certificate users depend on the validity of information provided by a certificate. Thus, a CA should be someone that certificate users trust, and usually holds an official position created and granted power by a government, a corporation, or some other organization. A CA is responsible for managing the life cycle of certificates (see: certificate management) and, depending on the type of certificate and the CPS that applies, may be responsible for the life cycle of key pairs associated with the certificates (see: key management).

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