What is a common use of digital certificates?

Digital certificates play a crucial role in internet security by enabling secure and encrypted connections. They serve to authenticate the identity of entities, such as websites or individuals, ensuring that data exchanged between parties is confidential and has not been tampered with during transmission. Digital certificates use asymmetric encryption to establish trust, allowing clients to verify the authenticity of a server before transmitting sensitive information like credit card details or personal data.

This authentication is generally achieved through a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), where a trusted third party, known as a Certificate Authority (CA), issues digital certificates. When a user connects to a secure website, their browser checks the digital certificate against the CA's database to confirm its validity. If the certificate is trustworthy, a secure session using protocols such as TLS (Transport Layer Security) can be established, ensuring that all data sent and received is encrypted.

The other options do not accurately reflect the primary role of digital certificates. For example, while tracking user activity is essential for monitoring and ensuring security, it is not a function achieved through digital certificates. Similarly, managing user permissions and facilitating data backups involve different security mechanisms and processes that do not relate to the encryption and authentication functions provided by digital certificates.