When you are surfing the internet, a lot of information is being
exchanged between the web host and the device being used to surf the
internet. This type of information can always be easily breached by hackers, especially if it involves
online transactions
and this has always been a major issue when dealing with the internet.
Nowadays, cases of online theft are becoming increasingly popular. There
is one way of determining whether a site is safe to use through an
SSL Certificate which is powered by the beauty of cryptography.
How SSL Cryptography Works?
Cryptography ensures that data is transmitted in a means that only the
intended party can access it. You can easily determine a site which has
an SSL certificate by the
padlock
icon that is displayed beside the web address. So how do SSL
certificates work? SSL in full is Secure Sockets Layer. An SSL
certificate provides tight security during the exchange of data.
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| PadLock Icon Showing SSL Security |
In SSL cryptography, encryption makes use of separate keys for the
decryption and encryption of data. Encryption keys are public and anyone
can use them. But the decryption keys (ones used to turn encrypted data
into meaningful information) are private and are kept secret. The SSL
certificate, on the other hand, can simply be described as a tiny data
file that has the appropriate information about a certain website. The
information can be quickly read by the host connection once the request
for connection is received. It is through an SSL that a website can
prove its authenticity to a web browser.
How To Get SSL Certificate?
An SSL certificate is not handed out like a college certificate. There are a number of companies called Certificate Authorities (CA)that authenticate that a site/server is legitimate and sign a resultant digital certificate
which is then stored, just like a cookie is stored on your browser. The
certificate will continuously alert all incoming connections and
protocols that the connection is trustworthy.
SSL Certificate Advantages
SSL certificates make online data-exchange, especially
financial transactions,
safer. It is a common rule of thumb not to trust any e-commerce site
that does not have an SSL certificate. There is just too much
information floating around online nowadays such as credit card info,
banking information etc. The safety of all these vital information will
be ensured by the SSL certificate, and every browser will accept the
websites incoming connections. However, most small websites, such as
blogs, don’t really need to supply an SSL certificate.
