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Digital Certificates |
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SSL Certificate
Basics
What is a SSL Certificate?
A SSL Certificate permits securer communication
between a client and a server (say a customer's
browser and a web retailer's server) or two servers
(any servers who want to "talk" securely
amongst themselves). Simply stated, a SSL is a digital
document that has unique codes to identify the holder
of the certificate to the person accessing the site.
How does a web-certificate work?
A SSL certificate functions as follows:
· Whenever
anybody transacts with a "secure"
web-site, their browser (or server) authenticates
the identity of the web-site using the web-certificate
· If the site's certificate
is not valid, a warning is issued to the user,
otherwise the web-cert creates an SSL (Secure
Server Layer) session and encrypts any information
exchanged during that session
· This prevents communication
from being intercepted and deciphered by nefarious
people on the Internet. |
Can you explain "how a digital certificate
works" in "Plain English"?
Basically, when two parties (say a customer and
the Amazon.com web-site) wish to "talk"
securely (transfer the customer's credit-card number
to Amazon.com), then a web-certificate sets up a
"secure" session that first verifies the
true identity of the party that requests data transfer
(Amazon.com).
If a certificate is valid, the other party (the
customer) gets a message saying that its OK to "talk"
to them (Amazon.com), as they are who they say they
are. The other party (customer) then transfers the
info (CC number) securely, without fear of any nefarious
elements intercepting the data.
If the certificate is invalid, a message pops up
saying so. Transactions can still occur, but at
the risk of counter party fraud (It may be joesbooks.com
tying to appear as Amazon.com)
How can someone tell whether a website is using
a SSL certificate or not?
The pages of a web-site which are secured by a web-certificate
are characterized by the following traits:
· The
URL of the secure web-pages change from http://...
to https://
· A lock symbol appears in the
lower left-hand (right hand) status bar in
Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer).
If one wants to view and verify the encryption
information of the secure pages, one should
simply undertake the following: |
· In
Netscape - click on the lock symbol and select
"View Certificate" button
· In Internet Explorer - double-click
on the lock
in the lower right-hand status bar. |
How are your web certificates trusted by the browsers?
Our web certificates are automatically and
transparently trusted by browsers. This trust
is established because our supplier's Root Certificate
has been embedded in all major browsers.
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