Comodo CA, the world’s largest commercial Certificate Authority and a leader in web security solutions, announced today that the company is rebranding to Sectigo. This was a decision that has been in the works for a while now and stems from the acquisition of the Comodo Certificate Authority by Francisco Partners.
The company unveiled its new name to limit market confusion and better represent the breadth and direction of its solutions, timed with the one-year anniversary of its acquisition by Francisco Partners in a carve-out from Comodo Group.
Francisco Partners Management LLC was founded in August 1999 and is an American private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in security solutions for small, medium, and enterprise businesses, in order to protect employees, customers, intellectual property, and brands from online threats. The company’s products and services enable customers and partners to monitor and secure digital identities across all touch points.
Much like the Symantec deal with DigiCert that saw its entire CA operation switch hands, Comodo sold its Certificate Authority, but continued on offering other security products – like cWatch and its popular antivirus software – as Comodo Group.
What is changing now that Comodo CA is Sectigo?
This is primarily a branding change, so pretty much anything with Comodo CA branding is being updated to the new Sectigo logos and colors. Sectigo is also using this as an opportunity to streamline its website and interfaces with the aim of improving customer experience.
Right away the two biggest places you’ll probably notice a difference will be the Sectigo site seal and some of the product names. Specifically the eponymous Comodo SSL/TLS certificate line will now be the Sectigo line. Others, like PositiveSSL and InstantSSL will now be “powered by Sectigo.”
What’s not changing with the Sectigo rebrand?
Sectigo is still the same company that has over 20 years of industry experience and the largest market share of any commercial CA. Its DNA is still the same. It’s still the company that has issued over 100,000,000 SSL certificates in over 150 countries.
Will I need to change my Comodo TrustLogo to a new trust logo/site seal?
Yes. A new Sectigo Trust Seal has been released.
Will my Comodo CA SSL/TLS certificate still work?
Yes. All of the Comodo CA roots and their descendants will continue to be trusted and you may continue on using your Comodo CA digital certificates, along with any associated site seals, through their expiration date—though Sectigo will also send you directions on how to update the seal in case you’d like to.
Should you choose to renew the certificate the only difference will be that it’s now a Sectigo certificate instead of a Comodo one.
Are price increases expected due to the Sectigo rebrand?
No. You can expect Sectigo digital certificates to sell for the same price as their Comodo CA equivalents.
Does Sectigo have its own Root certificates?
Not yet. Comodo Certificate Authority roots will remain trusted. Any newly issued certificates will continue to have a Comodo root until the new brand is fully established.
UPDATE: Sectigo will be transitioning from its Comodo CA roots and intermediates in January. It will begin using the USERTrust roots it already had and will spin up Sectigo-branded intermediates.
What products does Comodo Group offer?
Pretty much any Comodo cybersecurity product that didn’t fall under the umbrella of SSL/TLS and PKI is still under the auspices of Comodo Group. Products such as Comodo Antivirus, cWatch and vulnerability scanners are still being sold under the Comodo brand.
When will these changes take effect?
Immediately. The rebrand process has started in November 2018.
