SSL: Your Online Security Solution
Online transactions have become an integral part of our lives. People share sensitive personal information like credit card, login details etc. online. The user, by sharing such details on the network, should not feel threatened that their data will be misused. For this reason, domain security has become a necessity. One such method to ensure domain security is SSL.
SSL or Safe Security Layer is a security technology that establishes an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This ensures the security of all data between web servers and browsers.
Browsers can interact with secure web servers only through the SSL protocol. For this, both the browser and the server require the Secure Security Layer Certificate. This certificate guarantees a secure connection between the two.
Steps to obtain an SSL Certificate
The user who needs the certificate creates a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on your server and submits it to the Certificate Authority (CA). The CA must be trusted like DigiCert etc.
Once the request is submitted, public and private keys are generated on the server.
The submitted CSR data file contains the public key.
CA uses data from the CSR to create a data structure that matches the private key. However, CA cannot see the actual private key.
The user receives an SSL certificate.
The user can then install the certificate on their server.
An intermediate certificate is also installed to authenticate the credibility of this certificate.
Types of Secure Security Layer Certificates
Validated domain
This is a private certificate that is ideally used when secure communication takes place between the client and the website. It’s directly linked to the domain, so customers know they’re using the right website.
validated company
In this type of certification, additional documentation is required to prove the identity of the Company. A certificate validated by the Company generates more confidence in the user.
Extended Validation
Provides security against fraud by performing additional checks and validations. The ‘https’ in the address bar is unique to this certificate. ‘s’ means safe.
wildcards
This makes it easy to encrypt across unlimited domains using just one certificate. However, it requires that all subdomains have the same second level domain name.
multidomain
This type of certificate allows a maximum of 210 domains. It also allows mixing of domain names.
The user can select any of these certificates depending on his requirement. Various SSL certificates indicate security in different ways. When a user visits a website that has an SSL Certificate installed, a lock or green bar appears in the browser indicating security.