Certification Authority (CA)

A trusted entity that issues and revokes public key certificates. SOURCE: FIPS 201

The entity in a public key infrastructure (PKI) that is responsible for issuing certificates and exacting compliance to a PKI policy.
SOURCE: SP 800-21; FIPS 186

1. For Certification and Accreditation (C&A) (C&A Assessment): Official responsible for performing the comprehensive evaluation of the security features of an information system and determining the degree to which it meets its security requirements

2. For Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): A trusted third party that issues digital certificates and verifies the identity of the holder of the digital certificate.
SOURCE: CNSSI-4009