What is a digital certificate used for?

A digital certificate is primarily used to verify the ownership of a public key. It acts as an electronic "passport" and is issued by a trusted entity known as a Certificate Authority (CA). The certificate contains information about the identity of the key owner, such as their name and the public key associated with them. This verification process allows parties to confirm the legitimacy of the public key before using it for secure communications, such as establishing SSL connections or encrypting messages. By ensuring that the public key truly belongs to the claimed user, digital certificates help facilitate trusted digital interactions and secure transactions over the internet.

The other choices do not align with the primary function of a digital certificate. Showing software license agreements is unrelated to public key ownership verification, enhancing storage capabilities pertain to data management rather than security verification, and preventing system updates does not involve any aspect of digital certification in securing communication or data integrity.