Introduction

People are getting smart about online security. More and more of them are looking for the padlock icon and “https” prefix in the address bar of their browser before submitting personal information online. If your Web site doesn’t have an SSL Certificate, visitors may leave before making a purchase, creating an account or even signing up for a newsletter. But you can change all that with a SSL .

SSL Certificates offer industry-leading security and versatility:

	Fully Validated
	Up to 256-bit encryption
	Valid up to 10 years (depending on certificate type)
	99% browser recognition
	Stringent Authentication
	Around-the-clock customer support
	Can be installed on an unlimited number of servers
	(some other Certification Authorities charge for every server)

SSL Certificate helps you build an impenetrable
fortress around your customers’ credit card information.

Installing an SSL Certificate on your e-commerce. Web site allows you to secure your online business and build customer
Confidence by securing all online transactions with up to 256-bitencryption. An SSL Certificate on your business’ Web site will ensurethat sensitive data is kept safe from prying eyes. With a SSL Certificate, customers will place more trust in your site.

Before issuing a certificate, we rigorously authenticates the Requestor’s domain control and, in the case of High AssurancSSL Certificates, the identity and, if applicable, the business records ofThe certificate-requesting entity. The authentication process ensures the Customers and business partners can rest assured that a Web site Protected with a certificate can be trusted. Additionally, Extended Validation SSL Certificates provide
the highest level of online assurance – perfect for high-valueE-commerce – where our standardized vetting process verifies the
Legitimacy and status of your registered business.SSL Certificate provides the security your business Needs and the protection your customers deserve. With a SSL Certificate, customers will know that your site is secure.

Why You Need SSL Certificate

In the rapidly expanding world of electronic commerce, security isParamount. Despite booming Internet sales, widespread consume fear that Internet shopping is not secure still keeps millions of potential shoppers from buying online. Only if your customers trust that their credit card numbers and personal information will be kept safe from tampering can you run a successful online business.

For online retailers, securing their shopping sites is vital. If consumers perceive that their credit card information might be compromised online,they are unlikely to do their shopping on the Internet.

SSL Certificate provides an easy, cost-effective and securemeans to protect customer information and build trust. An SSL Certificate enables Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption of your business’ online transactions, allowing you to build an impenetrable fortress around your customers’ credit card information.

SSL certificates bring the highest level of trust to you online business. SSL Certificate ensures that all sensitive transactions are kept securely encrypted and safe from prying eyes, and rigorous authentication guarantees that MySiteMalixi certificates are
Issued only to entities whose existence and domains can be verified.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a Web site to visiting browsers and encrypts information for the server via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology.

A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser will access the server’s digital certificate and establish a secure connection.

Information contained in the certificate includes:

	The certificate holder’s name (individual or company-
	Developers Management)*
	The certificate’s serial number and expiration date
	Copy of the certificate holder’s public key
	The digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority
	With a Extended Validation Certificate, the browser
	will Prominently display your company name. To obtain an SSL
	certificate, one must generate and submit a Certificate Signing
	Request (CSR) to a trusted Certification Authority, such as
	, which will authenticate the requestor’s identity,
	existence   and domain registration ownership before issuing
	a certificate.

Enabling Safe and Convenient
Online Shopping

SSL Certificate ensures safe, easy and convenient Internet shopping. Once an Internet user enters a secure area – where,
for example, credit card information, e-mail address or other personal data is collected – the shopping site’s SSL certificate enables the browser and Web server to build a secure, encrypted connection. The SSL “handshake” process, which establishes the secure session, takes place discreetly behind the scenes, ensuring an uninterrupted shopping experience for the consumer. A “padlock” icon in the browser’s status bar and the “https://”prefix in the URL are the only visible indications of a secure session in progress. (Extended Validation Certificates also display a green address bar color when displaying a secured page.)
By contrast, if a user attempts to submit personal information to an unsecured Web site (i.e., a site that is not protected with a valid SSL certificate), the browser’s built-in security mechanism will trigger a warning to the user, reminding him/her that the site is not secure and that sensitive data might be intercepted by third parties. Faced with such a warning, most Internet users likely will look elsewhere to make a purchase.

Public and Private Keys

When you create a CSR, the Web server software with which the request is being generated creates two unique cryptographic keys: A public key,which is used to encrypt messages to your (i.e., the certificate holder’s) server and is contained in your certificate, and a private key, which is stored on your local computer and “decrypts” the secure messages so they can be read by your server. In order to establish an encrypted link between your Web site and your customer’s Web browser your Web server will match your issued SSL certificate to your private key. Because only the Web server has access to its private key, only the server can decrypt SSL-encrypted data.

A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an
Online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web.

Up to 256-Bit Encryption

SSL certificates support both industry-standard 128-bit (used by all banking infrastructures to safeguard sensitive data) and highgrade 256-bit SSL encryption to secure online transactions. The actual encryption strength on a secure connection using a digital certificate is determined by the level of encryption supported by the user’s browser and the server that the Web site resides on. For example, the combination of a Firefox browser and an Apache 2.X Web server enables up to 256-bit AES
Encryption.

Encryption strength is measured in key length — number  of bits in the key.To decipher an SSL communication, one needs to generate the correct decoding key. Mathematically speaking, 2n possible values exist for ann-bit key. Thus, 40-bit encryption involves 240 possible values. 128- and 256-bit keys involve a staggering 2128 and 2256 possible combinations, respectively, rendering the encrypted data de facto impervious to intrusion. Even with a brute-force attack (the process of systematically trying all possible combinations until the right one is found) cracking a 128- or 256-bit encryption is computationally unfeasible.

A “padlock” icon in the browser’s status bar
(Firefox) or in the navigation bar indicates
that a secure session is in progress.

Stringent Authentication —
A Matter of Trust

Before issues an SSL Certificate, the applicant’s company or personal information undergoes a rigorous authentication procedure that serves to pre-empt online theft and to verify the domain control and, if applicable, the existence and identity of the requesting entity. Only through thorough validation  of submitted data can the online customer rest assured that online businesses that utilize SSL certificates from indeed is to be trusted.SSL Certificates are only issued to entities whose domain control and, depending on certificate type, business credentials and contact information have been verified. Thus, a SSL certificate guarantees that the entity that owns the certificate is who it claims to be and has a legal right to use the domain from which it operates.

Phishing and Pharming —
How SSL Can Help

Phishing and, recently, pharming pose constant threats to Internet users whose sensitive information is under siege by crackers and other cyber crooks. An SSL certificate can clip the wings of Internet criminals and help prevent Internet users from being victimized by phishing and pharming schemes when attempting to visit your Web site. Phishing schemes – attempts to steal and exploit sensitive personal information – typically try to trick victims into accessing fraudulent sites that pose as legitimate, trusted entities, such as online businesses and banks.
Because perpetrators of such attacks will be using and registering domains that resemble those of the spoofed sites, through its stringent fraud-prevention measures, will detect the schemes and deny certificate requests for suspicious domains. More sophisticated than phishing, pharming revolves around the concept of hijacking an Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) domain name server (DNS) entries. When a “pharmer” succeeds in such DNS “poisoning” every computer using that ISP for Internet access is directed to the wrong site when the user types in a URL (e.g., www.ebay.com).

By protecting your Web site with a SSL certificate, Internet users that attempt to access a site that poses as yours will be instantly alerted that there is a problem with the supposedly secure connection:

No lock icon: Because CAs usually won’t issue a certificate to fraudulent phishing or pharming sites, such sites usually do not use SSL encryption. Internet users, therefore, are alerted by the absence of a padlock icon in their browser’s status bar.

 Name mismatch error: A pharming site could try to use a certificate issued by a CA for a domain owned by the attacker, but the user’s browser will warn the user that the visited URL does not match the certificate presented by the fake Web server.

 Untrusted CA: A pharming site might attempt to use a certificate issued by an untrusted CA. In this case, the user’s browser will generate the following warning: “the security certificate was issued by a company you have not chosen to trust.”
The alert Internet user will instantly abandon his/her activities/ transactions when presented with such warnings. Thus, a SSL certificate provides business owners and wary, savvy Internet users with an effective weapon against phishing, pharming and similar cyber swindles.

Phishing or pharming sites will not be able to obtain
SSL certificates from a trusted CA.

Conclusion — The Key to Online Security

Demand for reliable online security is increasing. Despite booming online sales many consumers continue to believe that shopping online is less safe than doing so at old-fashioned brick-and-mortar stores.The key to establishing a successful online business is to build customer trust. Only when potential customers trust that their credit card information and personal data is safe with your business, will they consider making purchases on the Internet.