Google has announced plans to run its own certificate root program/store for Chrome, in a major architectural shift for the company's web browser program.
A "root program" or a "root store" is a list of root certificates that operating systems and applications use to verify the identity of a software program during its installation routine.
Browsers like Chrome use root stores to check the validity of an HTTPS connection.
They do this by looking at the website's SSL certificate and checking if the root certificate that was used to generate the SSL cert is included in the local root program/store.
Chrome will shift from OS root store to its own
Since its launch in late 2009, Chrome was configured to use the "root store" of the underlying platform. For example, Chrome on Windows checked a site's SSL certificate against the Microsoft Trusted Root Program[1], the root store that ships with Windows; Chrome on macOS relied on the Apple Root Certificate Program[2]; and so on.
But in a wiki page, shared with ZDNet by one of our readers, Google announced plans to create its own root store, named the Chrome Root Program[3], that will ship with all versions of Chrome, on all platforms, except iOS.
The program is currently in its incipient stages, and there is no timeline of when Chrome will transition from using the OS root store to its own internal list.
For now, Google maker has published rules for Certificate Authorities (CAs), the companies that issue SSL certificates for websites.
The browser maker is urging CAs to read the rules and apply to be included in its new Chrome Root Program whitelist[4] to ensure a seamless transition for Chrome users when