SSL certificate: A Comprehensive Guide in 5 Points

Introduction

Various websites on the internet are secure, while some are not. When browsing the internet, you can check whether the website is secure or not with HTTPS on the website tab. Generally for websites have HTTP at their beginning, but some websites also have HTTPS. That extra ‘s’ in HTTP means your connection to the website is secure, and your data is encrypted.

1. What Is an SSL certificate?
2. Purpose Of SSL certificate
3. Types Of SSL certificate
4. Importance Of SSL certificate
5. How To Add SSL certificate To Website?
6. Examples

1. What Is SSL certificate?

The answer to the question ‘what is an SSL certificate ‘ is a security validation that ensures that the website’s connection is secure. SSL certificate full form is Secure Sockets Layer. This is a certificate that is provided to the website, ensuring the connection from the end-user to the website is encrypted. This is essential to keep your private data safe from the hands of hackers. The data transferred between the user and the website is encrypted to ensure the data is not leaked.

2. Purpose Of SSL certificate 

The purpose of the SSL certificate is to secure users’ connection to the website. Users can also find out whether the website they are visiting is legit or not. Having an SSL certificate for a website is essential to gain users’ trust. Well, not all websites require an SSL certificate, except for the one that requires users to enter their data. Various data can be entered by the user visiting the website, such as-

• Medical data and records
• Legal documents
• Personal data
• Online transaction and bank information
• Login details of users

If you are entering such information on any of the websites, you need to ensure that the connection to the website you are visiting is secure and encrypted.

3. Types Of SSL certificate

Different types of SSL certificate s are meant for different types of websites. Having SSL security is essential for someone running an entity. Given below are the different types of SSL-

• Single Domain SSL certificates

As the name suggests, this type of certificate is valid for one domain. This type of certificate has all three levels of validation. The validation includes extended validation, organization validation, and domain validation. Organization validation and extended validation are the highest security certificate that an authority can offer. This means that the site is commercial, and one can make a transaction on the website.

• Wildcard SSL certificates

This type of certificate is valid for a single domain and unlimited subdomains. If you have a website with various subdomains, you can take this type of certification and save money on subdomains certification.

• Multi-domain SSL certificate 

This type of certificate is valid for up to 100 domains with a single certificate. Like wildcard SSL certificate s, one can also save a lot of money with this type of certificate for your website.

• Unified Communications Certificate

This type of certificate is similar to multi-domain SSL encryption, but they are designed for Microsoft exchange and office communications.

You need to know there’s not a single type of SSL certificate, so the type of data you enter on a website can depend on the SSL certificate that the website holds. If you need to ensure that your connection to the website is secure, you need to keep in mind the following things.

• Read the privacy policy of the website. Websites in their privacy policy mention how the data of the user will be used. So if you are visiting an unknown website, you must ensure that the privacy policy page mentions how the users’ data will be used.
• Some of the legit brands have some security badges, which ensures no malicious link on the website.
• Know what type of certificate the website hold. There are various types of SSL certificate s that a website can have. The lowest SSL certificate is domain validity, which is only meant for blogs and informational sites. Generally, on sites with these types of certificates, you cannot enter personal data. Websites with extended validity and OV are the most secured types and offer the highest security. Websites with OV and EV are generally commercial website which process transaction from end-users to the website.

Before you transfer any money to the website or enter any data, you need to ensure the website is completely secure.

4. Importance Of SSL certificate 

There’s no one reason as to why one should have SSL security installed on their website.

• SSL helps protect your data and ensure that it is encrypted when communicating with a website. The data cannot be leaked in between and can only be accessed by the recipient because of being encrypted.
• This ensures that your website is authenticated. This will help the website owner with various web security concerns.
• Adding the SSL layer also helps with better search engine ranking. Various SEO experts have proven that sites with HTTPS rank better than a site with the only HTTP.
• It will help you build customer trust. Having an SSL certificate ensures a safe connection to your site, and the user will gain trust over your site to be legitimate. The main use of an SSL certificate is to ensure an end to end encryption.

5. How To Add SSL certificate To Website?

Before you get an SSL certificate for the website, you need to ensure that you are buying the correct one. There are various factors for knowing what type of certificate is the best, such as the website’s size, kind of website, number of domains, and subdomains. Buying an SSL certificate is only possible through a certificate authority SSL certificate provider. Their work is to validate that the entity which is asking for the certificate is legit or not. There are various ways to know whether the authority from which you are buying an SSL is legit or not.

If the CA is not legit, then your browser will show you an untrusted error message. This is because the root certificate is not present. SSL certificate installation is easy, and most of the domain provider do it for their clients. So if you are looking for the solution to the question ‘How to get an SSL certificate for Website,’ you can ask your domain provider for it.

6. Example

A website with an SSL certificate will have a website address in the form of ‘https://www.domain.com,’ and not ‘https://www.domain.com.’ For example, if you visit any of the big websites such as Facebook, Google, or Youtube website, then you will see ‘HTTPS’ at the beginning of their website’s address. Apart from that, there will also be a padlock available. Commercial websites with extended validation or organizational validation will have their brand name along with the padlock. If a site, even after having an SSL certificate, asks for various permission, you should check it twice. This is how to check the SSL certificate of a website.

Conclusion

This is the SSL meaning. SSL can help not only the businesses but the users as well. Users can trust the website with SSL encryption, and similarly, brands also gain the trust of their clients. This helps with better ranking. Reading this article will explain how SSL works and various SSL certificate types, and how to get one for your website.

So, have you made up your mind to make a career in Cyber Security? Visit our Master Certificate in Cyber Security (Red Team) for further help. It is the first program in offensive technologies in India and allows learners to practice in a real-time simulated ecosystem, that will give you an edge in this competitive world.

Also Read

• Certificate Authority: What Are They And What They Do?