certutil.exe is a legitimate command-line utility included in Microsoft Windows, primarily designed for managing digital certificates and certificate authority (CA) files. System administrators use certutil.exe to install, back up, verify, or troubleshoot certificates and related configurations. However, cybercriminals often exploit certutil.exe as a 'living off the land' binary (LOLBin) to evade detection. Attackers use it to download malicious payloads, encode or decode files, and move data laterally within networks. Because certutil.exe is a trusted system tool, its misuse can bypass security controls that typically block unknown or suspicious executables. Security teams should monitor certutil.exe activity for signs of abuse.