SSL Certificates are used in many applications as a means of verifying the identity or authenticity of a program, user or machine. The use most people see is in verifying the identity of web servers for secure (https) sessions.
ITD has a setup an SPKI account with Thawte (www.thawte.com) to provide commercially signed certificates for use on campus in the ncsu.edu and ncstate.net domains. If you are interested in using Thawte please contact the security group at the email address below for current prices and instructions.
NCSU has a campus CA certificate.
The old ITD certificate is here.