Question Asked: What Is An SSL Certificate?
|
Dec 1st, 2008 |
An SSL certificate, as a web-store owner, is a vital part of setting up your store on the internet.
The SSL certificate is issued by a “trusted authority”, and works with your site’s visitor’s browser. The SSL certificate tells the visitor’s browser that the website they’re visiting is actually the website they think they are, and not an imposter.
The SSL certificate also provides an encryption (usually 128 bit, 256 bit, or 512 bit, but in some cases 1024 bit), so that data sent from the visitor’s browser, to the server stays safe and secure.
Here’s a technical explination from Thawte, one of the leading SSL providers:
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), also known as TLS (Transport Layer Security), is a protocol that allows two programs to communicate with each other in a secure way. Like TCP/IP, SSL allows programs to create “sockets,” endpoints for communication, and make connections between those sockets. But SSL, which is built on top of TCP, adds the additional capability of encryption. The HTTPS protocol spoken by web browsers when communicating with secure sites is simply the usual World Wide Web HTTP protocol, “spoken” over SSL instead of directly over TCP.
Other answers you may find useful:
- What Does https Mean?
- Is Securing My Wireless Network Important?
- What Is The Difference Between A Web Page And A Website?
- How Do I Make a Digital Picture Black and White?
- What Is FTP?
Previous Post |
Next Post |
| « Why Do They Call It Black Friday? | What Is The Average Response Time For A 911 Call? » |
Comment On This Post