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OCSP stands for "Online Certificate Status Protocol." It is a protocol used in the field of internet security and cryptography to check the validity and status of digital certificates in real-time. Digital certificates, also known as public key certificates, are used to authenticate the identity of websites, servers, and individuals in online transactions, secure communications, and electronic signatures. The OCSP protocol allows client applications, such as web browsers and email clients, to verify the current status of a digital certificate by sending a query to an OCSP responder, which is a trusted server maintained by a certificate authority (CA). The OCSP responder then checks the status of the certificate in its database and responds to the client with information indicating whether the certificate is valid, revoked, or expired. By performing this real-time validation process, OCSP helps prevent the use of compromised or fraudulent certificates, mitigating the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks, data breaches, and identity theft in online communications. Additionally, OCSP stapling, a related feature, allows web servers to proactively provide OCSP responses along with digital certificates during the SSL/TLS handshake process, reducing latency and enhancing privacy for users by avoiding direct queries to OCSP responders. As a critical component of the public key infrastructure (PKI), OCSP plays a vital role in ensuring the trustworthiness and security of digital certificates, enabling secure and reliable communication over the internet.