SSL Certificates

Buy SSL Certificate

	Symantec Secure Site As low as 299.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Symantec Secure Site w/ EV As low as 779.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Symantec Secure Site Pro As low as 899.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Symantec Secure Site Pro w/ EV As low as 1,299.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	GeoTrust True Business ID As low as 109.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	GeoTrust True Business ID w/ EV As low as 249.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	GeoTrust True Business ID Wildcard As low as 429.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	GeoTrust QuickSSL Premium As low as 69.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Thawte SSL123 As low as 52.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Thawte SSL Web Server As low as 85.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Thawte SSL Web Server w/ EV As low as 265.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Thawte SGC SuperCert As low as 155.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	Thawte Wildcard SSL As low as 420.00 USD per year! *	Compare
	RapidSSL As low as 12.95 USD per year! *	Compare

* Prices do not apply to entities located in Japan. Please contact us for pricing.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology used to establish an encrypted link between a website and a web browser. SSL Certificates serve to help assure consumers that they are actually doing business with the Web site they believe they are accessing and all information passing back and forth remains private and secure. SSL Certificates are used by millions and millions of websites around the world to protect their online transactions with their customers.

An SSL Certificate provided by trusted companies authenticates such as Symantec, GeoTrust, Thawte, and RapidSSL identity website owners and ensure secure communication between those websites and their customers.

SSL Certificates accomplish the following important goals:

• Protect your customers and their sensitive information
• Increase trust and confidence = Increase transactions and avoid losing customers
• Stand out versus the competition
• Required for PCI compliance

What Happens between the Web Browser and Server

1. A browser attempts to connect to a web site secured with SSL. The browser requests that the web server identify itself.
2. The server sends the browser a copy of its SSL certificate.
3. The browser checks whether it trusts the SSL certificate. If so, it sends a message to the server.
4. The server sends back a digitally signed acknowledgement to start an SSL encrypted session.
5. Encrypted data is shared between the browser and the server.

Fundamentals of SSL

There are 3 essential elements at work in the process described above: a protocol for communications (SSL), credentials for establishing identity (the SSL certificate), and a third party that vouches for the credentials (the certificate authority).

• Computers use protocols to allow different systems to work together. Web servers and web browsers rely on the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to enable encrypted communications. The browser’s request that the server identify itself is a function of the SSL protocol.
• Credentials for establishing identity are common to our everyday lives: a driver’s license, a passport, a company badge. An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that serves as a credential in the online world. Each SSL certificate uniquely identifies a specific domain (such as thawte.com) and a web server.
• Our trust of a credential depends on our confidence in the organization that issued it. Certificate authorities have a variety of methods to verify information provided by individuals or organizations. Established certificate authorities, such as Thawte, are well known and trusted by browser vendors. Browsers extend that trust to digital certificates that are verified by the certificate authority.

Why Do I need an SSL Certificate?

As a result of rapid growth of the internet around the world, an unfortunate side effect has become the growth of criminal and counterfeit activity aimed at taking advantage of trusting consumers and daily users of the millions of websites on the world wide web.

Due to this prevalence of counterfeit Web sites, phishing attempts, and other attempts to steal consumer information on websites around the world, a strong and trusted SSL Certificate is a necessity for any reputable and trusted website.

What SSL Certificates are offered?

We offer a broad range of SSL Certificates from the most trusted security names on the planet including Symantec, GeoTrust, Thawte, and RapidSSL.

There are many factors to weigh when choosing the right SSL including:

• Type of website and information exchanged
• Level of Identity authentication
• Strength of encryption
• Trusted Brand Recognition of Certificate

Usage and Application of SSL Certificates

SSL Certificates are used in the following industries:

• Financial Institutions
• Retail Merchants
• Healthcare Industry
• Application Service Providers
• E-Government
• Domain Registrars
• Educational Institutions
• Hosting Providers

Securing the financial information in e-commerce is the major use of SSL Certificates, but there are a variety of other applications:

• Securing Web domains
• Securing gateways
• Securing Web forms and e-commerce sites
• Securing SMTP mail transfers
• Securing IMAP/POP mail servers
• Securing transfer connections to FTP servers
• Securing Virtual private networks (VPNs)
• Signing executable files

FAQs

• What are SSL and Digital Certificates?
  
  Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a protocol developed by Netscape in 1996 which quickly became the method of choice for securing data transmissions across the Internet. SSL is an integral part of most Web browsers and Web servers and makes use of the public-and-private key encryption system developed by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman.
  
  In order to make an SSL connection, the SSL protocol requires that a server should have a digital certificate installed. A digital certificate is an electronic file that uniquely identifies individuals and servers. Digital certificates serve as a kind of digital passport or credential which authenticate the server prior to the SSL session being established.
  
  Typically, digital certificates are signed by an independent and trusted third party to ensure their validity. The "signer" of a certificate is known as a Certification Authority (CA), such as Symantec, thawte and GeoTrust.
  
  
• When should SSL be used and what can it secure?
  
  There are two main online security problems that SSL certificates help solve:
  • Authentication - proving a company's (or server's) identity online and in so doing create a sense of trust and confidence in using a Web site.
  • Encryption - offering protection for the data submitted to a Web site (or between servers) so that in the event of interception, it will be unintelligible without the unique key used for decryption.
  Solving these security problems allows online business to protect against the following scenarios:
  • Spoofing - The low cost of Web site design and ease with which existing pages can be copied makes it all too easy to create illegitimate sites that appear to be published by established organizations. In fact, con artists have illegally obtained credit card numbers by setting up professional-looking storefronts that mimic legitimate businesses.
  • Unauthorized Disclosure - when information is transmitted "in the clear", making it possible for hackers to intercept the transmissions and obtain sensitive information from customers.
  • Data alteration - the content of a transaction can be intercepted and altered en route, either maliciously or accidentally. User names, credit card, and social security numbers as well as currency amounts; indeed any information sent "in the clear" is all vulnerable to alteration.
    
    
• So what are the practical applications of SSL certificates?
  
  Firstly, looking at categories of data, the most common deployment is for securing transmission of financial information in ecommerce. However, with incidence of identity theft on the rise, protecting the transmission of a broad range of personally-identifiable information is becoming ever more important. This category of data would include identity and social security numbers, e-mail addresses and demographic information as well as account registration and login information.
  
  In terms of applications and protocols, SSL Certificates can be used to secure the following:
  • Web Servers
  • Mail Servers
  • Databases
  • FTP Sites
  • Internet Chat
  • NNTP