# HARICA: Greek academic CA, 2021 roots and GÉANT TCS

> HARICA, the CA of Greek universities: TLS RSA/ECC Root CA 2021, 2015 roots dropped by Chrome, ACME, and GÉANT's TCS provider since 2025.

Source: https://ssl.sh/cas/harica/
Last updated: 2026-11-10

HARICA is the certificate authority of the Greek academic community. It is funded by the Greek Universities Network, operated by the IT Center of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and trusted by all major root stores; since 2025 it also issues certificates for universities and research institutions across Europe through GÉANT's Trusted Certificate Service.

## Owner and headquarters

According to HARICA, it is a service of the Greek Universities Network (GUnet), a non-profit civil company whose members are the universities of Greece, and it is operated by the IT Center of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. It is also an EU qualified trust service provider. Its roots name "Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions CA" and country GR.

## Root certificates

As of November 2026, CCADB lists four HARICA roots in the TLS report. HARICA TLS RSA Root CA 2021 (RSA 4096) and HARICA TLS ECC Root CA 2021 (ECDSA P-384), valid until 2045-02-13, are trusted for TLS by Chrome, Mozilla, Apple and Microsoft. The 2015 roots, Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions RootCA 2015 and ECC RootCA 2015, remain in the Mozilla, Apple and Microsoft stores but have been removed from Chrome's. HARICA states it has been in Mozilla's program since 2012, Microsoft's since June 2013 and Apple's since September 2013.

## Certificate products

DV, OV and EV TLS certificates, S/MIME and client certificates, code signing and qualified electronic signature and seal certificates.

## ACME support

HARICA supports ACME. In GÉANT's Trusted Certificate Service, DV certificates can be requested through HARICA's ACME directory (for example `https://acme.harica.gr/TCS-DV/directory`) after an institution has enrolled its domains.

## Free certificates

HARICA doesn't offer free certificates to the general public. Staff and students of institutions in participating research networks may get certificates at no direct cost through GÉANT TCS, typically paid for by their national research network.

## Notable incidents and changes

The main change is HARICA's growth beyond Greece: in January 2025 it replaced Sectigo as the CA behind GÉANT's TCS, so many European universities moved their certificate issuance to HARICA. HARICA is also active in the CA/Browser Forum: for example, its representative proposed the pre-issuance linting ballot [SC-075](https://ssl.sh/ballots/sc-075/).


## Root certificates (CCADB)

HARICA has 4 root certificate(s) in the CCADB TLS report. Together they have signed 136 intermediate CA certificates, 81 of them still valid.

| Root certificate | Key | Expires | Chrome | Mozilla | Apple | Microsoft | Intermediates | SHA-256 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HARICA TLS ECC Root CA 2021 | ECDSA P-384 | 2045-02-13 | Included | Included | Included | Included | 8 | 3F99CC474ACFCE4DFED58794665E478D1547739F2E780F1BB4CA9B133097D401 |
| HARICA TLS RSA Root CA 2021 | RSA 4096 | 2045-02-13 | Included | Included | Included | Included | 8 | D95D0E8EDA79525BF9BEB11B14D2100D3294985F0C62D9FABD9CD999ECCB7B1D |
| Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions ECC RootCA 2015 | ECDSA P-384 | 2040-06-30 | Removed | Included | Included | Included | 25 | 44B545AA8A25E65A73CA15DC27FC36D24C1CB9953A066539B11582DC487B4833 |
| Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions RootCA 2015 | RSA 4096 | 2040-06-30 | Removed | Included | Included | Included | 95 | A040929A02CE53B4ACF4F2FFC6981CE4496F755E6D45FE0B2A692BCD52523F36 |

## CAA records

The CCADB lists 1 CAA issuer domain(s) recognized by the currently valid intermediate certificates of HARICA. One issue record with any of them lets HARICA issue for your domain. Domains that contain the CA's name come first, the rest by how many valid intermediates recognize them.

```
example.com. CAA 0 issue "harica.gr"
```

## Audits

Audit data the CCADB records for the TLS roots of HARICA. Auditor(s): QMSCERT. The most recent audit period ended on 2026-03-29.

- Standard audit: ETSI EN 319 411 2025-03-30 – 2026-03-29 (https://www.qmscert.com/share/220626-01-AL)
- Network security: ETSI EN 319 411 2025-03-30 – 2026-03-29 (https://www.qmscert.com/share/220626-01-AL)
- TLS Baseline Requirements: ETSI EN 319 411 2025-03-30 – 2026-03-29 (https://www.qmscert.com/share/220626-04-AL)
- TLS EV Guidelines: ETSI EN 319 411 2025-03-30 – 2026-03-29 (https://www.qmscert.com/share/220626-05-AL)

## CP/CPS documents

Certificate Policy and Certification Practice Statement links that HARICA has disclosed in the CCADB for its TLS roots, with effective dates:

- CP/CPS: https://repo.harica.gr/documents/CPS-EN-4.14.pdf

## Report a certificate problem

To report a mis-issued certificate, a compromised private key or other abuse, use the channels HARICA lists in the CCADB (replace [at] and [dot] in addresses):

- cert-problem-report[at]harica[dot]gr
- high-priority-cert-problem-report[at]harica[dot]gr
- https://www.harica.gr/en/Contact/CPR

## Incident reports

CAs in Mozilla's root program file compliance incident reports in Mozilla's Bugzilla (product CA Program, component CA Certificate Compliance). This search lists the bugs whose title contains the words “HARICA”: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&product=CA+Program&component=CA+Certificate+Compliance&short_desc_type=allwords&short_desc=HARICA&order=changeddate+DESC

## FAQ

**What CAA record allows HARICA to issue certificates?**

Publish example.com. CAA 0 issue "harica.gr". The CCADB lists 1 recognized domain(s) for HARICA: harica.gr.

**Who audits HARICA?**

QMSCERT, according to the CCADB. The latest TLS Baseline Requirements audit (ETSI EN 319 411) covers 2025-03-30 to 2026-03-29; the statement is dated 2026-06-22.

**How do I report a problem certificate to HARICA?**

Use the channel(s) listed in the CCADB: cert-problem-report[at]harica[dot]gr, high-priority-cert-problem-report[at]harica[dot]gr, https://www.harica.gr/en/Contact/CPR.

**How many root certificates does HARICA have?**

4 in the CCADB TLS report. Trusted for TLS: Chrome 2, Mozilla 4, Apple 4, Microsoft 4. They have signed 136 intermediates, 81 of them still valid.

Sources: CCADB All Certificate Information (V5), List of CAA Identifiers, List of CA problem reporting mechanisms and TLS Server Authentication report (ccadb.org/resources).