Cloudflare Plans Public CA for Post-Quantum Certificates

Cloudflare plans to become a public certificate authority, issuing conventional website certificates as well as a post-quantum format called Merkle Tree Certificates. The company says the certificates are intended to help prepare web authentication for future quantum computers, but its conventional public issuance depends on approval from browser and operating-system root programs. Production issuance of Merkle Tree Certificates is targeted for the first quarter of 2027. Cloudflare has applied to the root programs operated by Chrome, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla, according to the company. Those programs determine whether browsers and devices trust certificates from an issuer. The applications remain pending, and Cloudflare has not announced when conventional issuance could begin. The company has also reached a definitive agreement to acquire trusted root key material from GlobalSign. Cloudflare says the material is intended to help its certificates work on older devices that may not receive updates adding new root certificates. The agreement has not been described as completed; Cloudflare expected it to close within two months, subject to customary conditions.