SSL Certificates are an important piece of the online payments pie. There are many certificates available. To provide some clarity to this subject here's a run down on what they are for, how they work and some links to more information.
During the planning of your website we will need to advise you further based on your specific needs.
Follow up:
What is an SSL Certificate?
To provide security for the transmission of your customers credit card details and other information a website requires an SSL Certificate. This enables the encryption of data for transmission.
The certificate shows the customer that your webpage(s) are encrypted and authentic. The certificate proving this authenticity may be viewed by the customer in their web browser to verify your identity and the encryption.
There are different types of certificate to suit different needs. All certificates provide encryption and prove the authenticity of your domain name. Some certificates also provide the customer with verification of your identity (other than just your domain name, such as business name and address).
How do I get an SSL Certificate?
SSL Certificates are issued by companies who are registered as Certificate Authorities. The authority verifies your identity when they issue the certificate.
Certificates are provided on a subscription basis (eg. 1, 2, 3... years) and require an application to a Certificate Authority.
All Certificate Authorities take you through a verification process. This may be as simple as a 3 minute verification to prove your ownership of your domain name. It may involve exchanging faxes or mail, such as to prove your business address.
Some well known and respected Certificate Authorities are Thwate and VeriSign. Here is a list of certificate authorities...
Which certificate is right for me?
When choosing a certificate there are a few things to consider:
Do you want to provide users with verification of your identity? For example, the 'Thawte SSL Web Server' product does both domain and identity authentication and verification. The 'Thwate SSL 123' only provides authentication of the domain name. Some certificates also provide encryption and verificaction of sub-domains.
There is a benefit in choosing a well known provider. It reassures your customer when they recognise the seal of your certificate authority which we will display on the website. And the reassurance it provides you of course.
Shopping for a certificate
It is worth shopping around for your certificate. The same product can often be found cheaper from third-parties, rather than buying it direct from the Certificate Authority.
During our consultation when we plan your website we will discuss your needs with regards to SSL protection.
More information:
Here's some detailed information about how SSL works (SSL is now known technically as TLS, but the popular name is still SSL):
- Wikipedia - Transport Layer Security
To discuss your project in more detail please contact us.
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