Which type of certificate is considered the same as a general purpose certificate?

The correct answer is DV (Domain Validation) certificates. DV certificates are considered general-purpose certificates because they provide a way to secure a website by verifying the ownership of the domain, which is a fundamental requirement for establishing secure communications. They are widely used for standard website encryption and are suitable for a broad range of applications without the more stringent vetting processes required for certain other types of certificates.

In contrast to DV certificates, Extended Validation (EV) certificates involve a more comprehensive vetting process to provide a higher level of assurance to website visitors, usually seen in the form of a green address bar in browsers. Wildcard certificates, on the other hand, allow for securing multiple subdomains under a single domain using asterisks (e.g., *.example.com), but still serve a specific purpose of simplifying management for large sites. General-purpose certificates encompass a category, but are best represented by DV certificates, as they are typically the simplest and most commonly used for straightforward web security needs.