Question 1

How do TLS certificates work?

Accepted Answer

A TLS certificate binds a domain name to a public key, signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). When your browser connects to a site, it verifies the certificate chain (site cert → intermediate CA → root CA), checks expiry, and confirms the domain matches. If all checks pass, an encrypted connection is established.

Question 2

What does a self-signed certificate mean?

Accepted Answer

A self-signed certificate is signed by its own private key instead of a trusted CA. Browsers display security warnings because there is no third-party verification of the site's identity. They are acceptable for local development and internal tools but should never be used in production.

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