A certifcate is issued by an issuer, usually a
Certification Authority (CA), who confirms something by issuing the certificate. The subject of this confirmation depends on the CA's policy. CAs for secure web servers (used for shopping malls, etc.) usually attest only that the given public key belongs the given domain name. Company-wide CAs might attest that you are an employee of the company, that you have permissions to use a server, and so on.
