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Certificate Discovery:

You can't protect certificates you don't know exist—scanning reveals your complete certificate attack surface 

Certificate Discovery

You can't protect certificates you don't know exist—scanning reveals your complete certificate attack surface.

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Learn about secure certificate discovery from the ant

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The ant's systematic approach

 

African ants leave no stone unturned. They systematically map every inch of territory, sharing discoveries instantly with the colony through pheromone trails. Scout ants work tirelessly 24/7, exploring, documenting, reporting. Their collective intelligence creates a complete, always-current map of their environment. 

 The question nobody can answer

Here's a simple exercise: Ask your IT director, "How many SSL/TLS certificates does our organization have?"

You'll likely hear: "About 5,000" or "Maybe 3,000?" or "Let me check the spreadsheet..."

Now run an automated certificate discovery scan.
The real number? Usually 3x higher than anyone estimated.

ant

 

 

Your hidden certificate problem 

 

Unknown certificates create catastrophic risks. 

Remember these disasters?

Microsoft Teams (2020): Expired certificate, millions unable to work for hours

Spotify (2020): Global service down due to certificate expiration

Equifax (2017): Expired cert on security scanner enabled 147M record breach

None of these were sophisticated attacks. All were preventable certificate management failures from certificates nobody knew about, didn't monitor, didn't renew.

Your hidden certificate problem

Unknown certificates create catastrophic risks

None of these were sophisticated attacks. All were preventable certificate management failures from certificates nobody knew about, didn't monitor, didn't renew.

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    Remember these disasters?
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    Microsoft Teams (2020): Expired certificate, millions unable to work for hours
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    Spotify (2020): Global service down due to certificate expiration
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    Equifax (2017): Expired cert on security scanner enabled 147M record breach

Where certificates hide

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Shadow IT
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Developers created certificates for testing, never documented
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Legacy systems
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Forgotten infrastructure still running with ancient certificates
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Acquisitions
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Merged companies brought entire certificate estates
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Test in production
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Test certificates accidentally deployed to live systems
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Personal certificates
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Individual developer certificates scattered everywhere
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Containers
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Kubernetes and Docker with their own certificate ecosystems
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How certificate discovery works

Phase 1: Comprehensive scanning

 

Automated scanners continuously sweep infrastructure

1.Certificate discovery
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External Discovery
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  • Internet-facing websites and APIs

  • CDN and edge locations

  • Partner connections

  • Mobile app backends

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Internal discovery
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  • Data centre networks 
  • Private clouds
  • Development and test environments
  • Legacy infrastructure
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Cloud platform discovery
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  • AWS Certificate Manager Services
  • Azure Key Vault and App Services
  • Google Cloud Certificate Authority
  • Multi-cloud load balancers
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Container discovery
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  • Kubernetes ingress controllers
  • Docker container certificates
  • Service mesh certificates
  • Microservices authentication

Result: Organizations typically discover certificates in locations they never thought to look.
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Phase 2: Intelligent inventory

 

Every discovered certificate catalogued with complete metadata

  • Subject and Subject Alternative Names (SANs)

  • Issuing Certificate Authority

  • Expiration date and remaining validity

  • Cryptographic algorithm (RSA, ECC) and key length

  • Serial number and thumbprint

  • Certificate chain and trust validation

  • Location and associated systems

Result: A living database that updates constantly.

Phase 3: Risk assessment

 

Automated analysis prioritises remediation

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Critical risk certificates
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  • Expiring within 30 days
  • Using weak SHA-1 or MD5 algorithms
  • Self-signed or issued by untrusted CAs
  • Expired but still in use
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High Risk Certificates
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  • Expiring within 60 days
  • Using short key lengths (< 2048 bits)
  • Missing from organisational policies
  • Deployed without approval
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Medium risk certificates
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  • Expiring within 90 days
  • Using deprecated TLS versions
  • Ownership unclear

Result: Focus on what matters most.

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Phase 4: Continuous monitoring 

 

Discovery never stops

  • Daily - weekly - monthly scans (configurable)

  • Real-time alerts for new certificates

  • Change detection and notifications

  • Integration with Certificate Lifecycle Management

  • Automated reporting and dashboards

Result: Always-current inventory replaces stale spreadsheets.

Phase 4: Continuous monitoring 

 

Discovery never stops

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  • Daily - weekly - monthly scans (configurable)
  • Real-time alerts for new certificates
  • Change detection and notifications
  • Integration with Certificate Lifecycle Management
  • Automated reporting and dashboards
Result: Always-current inventory replaces stale spreadsheets.

Benefits and differentiators

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Achieve compliance
Complete inventory for auditors
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Feed CLM automation
Discovery powers lifecycle management
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Continuous scanning
Always-current, never outdated

 

The Altron Security advantage

Get in toch icon Managed PKI service - we handle infrastructure, you get results
Get in toch icon 24/7 South African support in your time zone
Get in toch icon Hybrid deployment - cloud, on-premise, or both
Get in toch icon Compliance-ready - pre-configured for POPIA, PCI DSS
Get in toch icon Quantum-ready - migration paths to post-quantum cryptography

Real-world impact

**Figures are estimates and differ based on scenario.

A technology company

Expected

5,000 certificates

Discovered

15,000 certificates (3x-more)

Found

3,000 using weak SHA-1, 500 self-signed, 1,200 expiring within 90 days

Results

Prevented 12 potential outages, saved R2M

The Altron Security advantage

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Agentless scanning
No software to install on every server
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Multi-cloud support
Scan AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise
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Container awareness
Discover certificates in Kubernetes and Docker
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API integration
Feed CLM and SIEM systems
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Compliance reporting
Pre-built reports for auditors
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Risk prioritisation
AI-powered risk scoring

The Altron Security advantage

Wallet and Hand - Finance Icon_Altron HealthTech Agentless scanning - No software to install on every server
Behaviour icon 01 Multi-cloud support - Scan AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise
Yellow Laptop Graph Icon_Altron HealthTech Container awareness - Discover certificates in Kubernetes and Docker
Behaviour icon 01 API integration - Feed CLM and SIEM systems
Yellow Shield Icon_Altron HealthTech Compliance reporting - Pre-built reports for auditors
Behaviour icon 01 Risk prioritisation - AI-powered risk scoring

Ready to explore our certificate discovery solutions? 

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Frequently Asked Questions
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Ready to explore our Certificate Discovery solutions? 

 

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