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What is the correct terminology or wording for an SSL certificate that you have bought from a certified provider (e.g. GoDaddy or something) and has been signed by a root certificate authority?

For example, I'm writing these statements:

Our internal servers have self-signed certificates, but our public Web server has an official certificate that has been signed by a root certificate authority.

What is the correct term for the boldfaced words above?

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  • There is no such thing has an official certificate, it's a certificate signed by a CA( certificate authority). – Ramhound Jan 6 '16 at 0:01
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    Technically every certificate is signed by a CA, even when self-signed. It's the trust that matters. – Daniel B Jan 6 '16 at 0:09
  • blog.pluralsight.com/top-reliable-ssl-certificates – Moab Jan 6 '16 at 0:12
  • globalsign.com/en/ssl-information-center/… – Moab Jan 6 '16 at 0:13
  • @DanielB - If a self-signed certificate is signed by a CA then it would be trusted by browsers and operating systems. You should clarify that a self-signed certificate the certificate authority would be "yourself" saying anything else makes it sound like it would be signed by a root CA. – Ramhound Jan 6 '16 at 0:50
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AFAIK there is no official name for them.

They are commonly known as Signed or CA-Signed certificates. In some other places they are called trusted certificates, real certificates, true certificates or non-self-signed certificates.

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