International Association
for Cryptologic Research

Certificate Transparency was a response to the 2011 attack on DigiNotar and other Certificate Authorities. These attacks showed that the lack of transparency in the way CAs operate was a significant risk to the Web Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). It led to the creation of the Certificate Transparency project to improve Internet security by bringing accountability to the system that protects HTTPS. Since 2013, the Certificate Transparency community has effectively monitored and fixed certificate anomalies. The award recognizes the enermous effort that it took to make Certificate Transparency a reality on the Web, and the tangible security benefits that it brings to all Web users.