SSL certificates can be found on almost every website you visit. Most visitors to your website will be looking for either the SSL lock icon or the green URL bar with a URL containing https, rather than just http.
SSL is such an important part of internet security that even consumers who shop or provide sensitive data online understand its value. This is especially true after the Heart-bleed bug gained so much mainstream media attention.
Now that the Heart-bleed bug has been fixed, SSL is even stronger than ever. Standing for Secure Sockets Layer, SSL provides a way for the server and the client to communicate with a high level of encryption.
This makes sure that your customers’ data is safe and protected as it is transferred to your servers and back again.
Who uses SSL?
Major sites like eBay, PayPal, Google, and Bing use SSL to protect and encrypt data. However, it isn’t just the big players in the online business world that use the Secure Sockets Layer protocol. Every website is equally entitled to protecting its customers from people who are trying to invade their privacy.
You may operate an eCommerce website, offer online shopping or other online transactions, or you may even just have a social network. SSL will make sure that hackers with malicious intent can’t sniff your users’ data as it is transferred from client to server and back again. SSL certificates prove to the user, and also to their preferred web browser, that the site can be trusted.
Why is SSL used?
Because it creates links with encryption between the server and the client, sensitive data is not sent from the client to the server (or vice-a-versa) in plain text, as would normally be the case with a site not secured with SSL. The server could be anything from a website to a mail server (such as GMail or Yahoo), with the client being anything from a web browser to a mail client (such as Outlook, Thunderbird, Evolution).
SSL certificates let everyone know that the server in question is secure and safe from eavesdropping.
Why do I need SSL?
SSL is an essential part of any server’s security measures. The SSL security protocol provides the variables used to create an algorithm that is needed for secure encryption.
SSL secures millions of data transfers across millions of servers for millions of clients around the world. Without SSL certificates, web browsers wouldn’t know whether or not the server is secure. SSL provides peace of mind, security, and definitely helps to cut down on identity theft, keeping thieves from yet another repository of information.
The importance of SSL certificates cannot be understated. They are essential for your website, for your business, as well as for the safety of your customers and their information.
