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A Beginner’s Guide to SSL: What It is & Why It Makes Your Website More Secure

This could reflect poorly on your company, particularly when visitors go to “your” site only to have someone try to steal their personal information or put adware or other malware on their computer. Before issuing an organizationally validated certificate, the certificate authority needs to obtain a few details about the organization. These include where it is physically located and its domain name.

An SSL certificate (also known as a TLS or SSL/TLS certificate) is a digital document that binds the identity of a website to a cryptographic key pair consisting of a public key and a private key. The public key, included in the certificate, allows a web browser to initiate an encrypted communication session with a web server via the TLS and HTTPS protocols. The private key is kept secure on the server, and is used to digitally sign web pages and other documents (such as images and JavaScript files). An SSL certificate also includes identifying information about a website, including its domain name and, optionally, identifying information about the site’s owner. Certificates are used within a cryptographic system known as a public key infrastructure (PKI).

What is the validity period for the SSL/TLS certificate?

Once obtained, you need to configure the certificate on your web host or on your own servers if you host the website yourself. It is essential to be familiar with the different types of SSL certificates to obtain the right type of certificate for your website. Since its inception about 25 years ago, there have been several versions of SSL protocol, all of which at some point ran into security troubles. A revamped and renamed version followed — TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is still in use today.

ssl certificate meaning

Wildcard SSLs ensure that if you buy a certificate for one domain, you can use that same certificate for subdomains. OV (Organization Validated) TLS/SSL certificates – The second highest level of authenticity and next most rigorous organiztion checks. TLS/SSL encrypts and protects usernames and passwords, https://deveducation.com/ as well as forms used to submit personal information, documents or images. Once you receive the SSL certificate, you install it on your server. You also install an intermediate certificate that establishes the credibility of your SSL certificate by tying it to your CA’s root certificate.

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An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that provides authentication for a website and enables an encrypted connection. Short for Secure Sockets Layer, SSLs communicate to web users that a connection is safe and secure. When a website holds an SSL certificate, a padlock icon appears on the left side of the URL address bar signifying that the connection is secure.

Customers are always looking for a safe and secure website where they can enter their sensitive information without any fear of being hijacked by hackers. They can help to increase security and build trust with your visitors. In our list of the best What Is an SSL Certificate SSL certificate services, prices range from $7.02 per year for DV SSL (for a five-year plan) to $218.17 per year (for a six-year plan) for OV SSL. If you’re looking to pay per year, you can expect to pay between $50 and $250 per year for a DV SSL.