The process of validating the server’s certificate against a pre-defined set of certificates embedded within the application. This security measure enhances the trust relationship between the client application and the server. For example, an application designed to interact with a banking institution’s server would embed the expected certificate, ensuring only connections to that specific server are permitted.
Implementing this validation mechanism mitigates the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks, where malicious actors attempt to intercept and decrypt communications. By verifying the server’s identity against a known and trusted certificate, applications prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. This practice offers an added layer of security beyond the standard certificate authority (CA) trust model, which can be susceptible to compromise.
