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FAQ's
- What is an SSL Certificate?
- What is an EV SSL Certificate?
- What is Wildcard SSL Certificate?
- What is Domain Validation authentication?
- What is Organisation Validation authentication?
- What is Extended Validation authentication?
- Why is encryption strength important?
- What is browser recognition?
- What is a Site Seal?
- What is a Certification Authority (CA)?
- What is a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?
- How long does it take to issue an SSL certificate?
- How long is the SSL Certificate valid for?
- What does the warranty cover?
What is an SSL Certificate?
A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate verifies the identity of the website and allows web users to send and receive information securely by encryption. An SSL Certificate contains a public key and a private key. The public key is used to encrypt information and the private key is used to decipher it. Web users know when an SSL Certificate is in place as the URL address bar begins with https rather than http and the padlock icon is displayed.
What is an EV SSL Certificate?
Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates is a new level of security authentication to clearly identify a web site’s organisational identity. When using a modern browser, a web site secured with an EV SSL Certificate will cause the URL address bar to turn green. A display next to the green bar will toggle between the organisation name listed in the certificate and the Certificate Authority (e.g VeriSign, Thawte, GeoTrust and GlobalSign). Older browsers will display EV SSL Certificates with the same security symbols as existing SSL Certificates.
What is a Wildcard SSL Certificate?
A Wildcard SSL Certificate can be used for unlimited first-level sub-domains of the domain name you specify in your Certificate Signing Request (CSR). For example, if you hosted www.domain.com, a Wildcard SSL Certificate for *.domain.com would allow you to secure
www.domain.com
mail.domain.com
admin.domain.com
sales.domain.com
europe.domain.com
anything.domain.com
The * character in the common name is the wildcard character. It can take on any first-level subdomain name.
What is Domain Validation authentication?
A Domain Validation SSL Certificate is an entry level certificate. The certificate is issued by verifying ownership of the domain name. Trust Level: Low
What is Organisation Validation authentication?
An Organisation Validation SSL Certificate is a mid-level certificate. The certificate is issued by verifying ownership of the domain name and the organisation’s identity. Trust Level: Medium.
What is Extended Validation authentication?
An Extended Validation SSL Certificate is a high level certificate. The certificate is issued by verifying ownership of the domain name, the organisation’s identity and the applicant’s employment with the organisation. Trust Level: High
Why is encryption strength important?
Encryption strength is determined by the browser, the web user’s operating system and the SSL Certificate. The encryption strength of the secure connection may be 40, 56, 128, or 256 bit. High-level encryption, at 128 to 256 bit means that the data cryptographically encoded during an SSL session is at the strongest level available and almost impossible to break. Compared to a 40-bit encrypted SSL Certificate, 128-bit encryption is more than 300 septillion (300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) times stronger.
What is browser recognition?
The term browser recognition is used to determine the number of web browsers that will work with the SSL Certificate. All SSL Certificates provided by Securacert are trusted by over 99% of browsers used on the Internet today.
What is a Site Seal?
Site Seals are provided free of charge when you purchase an SSL Certificate from Securacert. Displaying a Site Seal on your web site reassures visitors and gives them the confidence to complete their transactions with you.
What is a Certification Authority (CA)?
A Certification Authority (CA) is an entity that digitally signs each SSL Certificate issued. Each browser contains a list of CAs to be trusted. When a secure connection is created, the browser verifies that the server certificate was issued by a trusted CA. If the CA is not trusted, a warning will appear. CAs must undergo annual security audits (such as WebTrust for Certification Authorities) to be included in the list of web browser trusted authorities.
What is a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?
A Certificate Signing Request (CSR) is a message sent from an applicant to a Certification Authority (CA) to apply for an SSL Certificate. The CSR contains information identifying the applicant and the CA may contact the applicant for further information. If the request is successful, the CA will send back an SSL Certificate that has been digitally signed with the private key of the CA.
An example of a CSR is given below:
How long does it take to issue an SSL certificate?
The time taken to issue an SSL Certificate will depend on the CA and the certificate type. Issue times can vary between 10 minutes and 10 days.
How long is the SSL Certificate valid for?
SSL Certificates are valid for 1 – 5 years.
EV SSL Certificates are valid for 1 – 2 years.
Wildcard SSL Certificates are valid for 1 – 5 years.
What does the warranty cover?
Warranty levels will vary between SSL Certificates depending on certificate type and the validation process. If a fraudulent activity occurs as a direct result of the SSL Certificate, the Certification Authority (CA) will reimburse the web user up to the warranty level of that SSL Certificate. Note, that no warranty claims have ever been made against VeriSign, Thawte, GeoTrust and RapidSSL.
