User data protection is the responsibility of a website owner. 68% of internet users agree that the laws for protecting their rights are not good enough. Cybercrime is the very serious issue people are facing these days. It becomes very common to fall into the trap of a scammer and data leak. Such data leaks not only steal our valuable data but also drain our hard earnings. It is deduced that by 2021 the amount of damage that a cybercrime causes is around $6 trillion annually. Hence, Cybersecurity becomes essential when we considering to provide valuable data to any website. There are various ways to prevent your data from leaking out. The prime and very important of them all is the SSL Certificate. The SSL Certificate is a data encryption file that is uploaded on to the web server. It initiates a secure connection with the browser and typically works with credit card/ debit card information etc and that is why SSL is so important.
Why SSL Certificate?
There are number of reasons to choose the SSL Certificate to secure the website visitors-
Authentication of Website
In the internet world, the data transfer is done through various networks. These networks might allow the third party to possess your computer into believing that the website is authentic and then may steal your data. This can be prevented by SSL Certificate. This ensures that you are sending information thru encrypted channel.
Security
Security is most essential when owning a website. The securing of data makes a visitor trust the website and this creates an opportunity for the website to establish a connection for future business.
SEO Ranking
Google in 2014 made SSL a part of their Search Engine algorithm for ranking purpose. It is one of the factors that determine the ranking of the website in the Google search results. There are still websites running without SSL Certificate but Google priorities the website with the SSL Certificate.
PCIs Compliance
PCIs stands for Payment Card Industry Standards that establish the online payment standards. In order to accept the payment through the online i.e. card, net banking etc, it is necessary for the website to have an SSL Certificate. Not only payment gateways but also when you are getting an E-commerce website designed, you must run it on SSL to win customer’s trust.
What to choose?
Confusion may arise when opting for the type of SSL Certificate you want to choose. There is different SSL certificate for various requirements and needs of a business. A large corporation may choose Extended Validated Certificates with Multi-domain SSL Certificate for the function of the website but for a small business may choose Organization Validated Certificates with Wildcard for the function of the websites. Hence, it totally depends on the requirement and budget of the website.
How does an SSL Certificate work?
SSL Certificate works on the principle of cryptography. This method of cryptography is called Public Key Cryptography. Public key cryptography is an encryption scheme that uses two mathematical random numbers generated, these two numbers are referred to as key. The first key is Public Key and the other one is called Private Key. Public Key is used to encrypt the data and private key to decrypt. The hacker who wants to hack into the communication established will end up with only the encrypted file. This encrypted file is impossible to break even by a supercomputer.
Types of SSL Certificate
There are different types of SSL Certificates depending on the requirement of the website-
They can be grouped based on –
- Validation level
- Number of secured domains/subdomains
Validation level
- Domain Validation Certificates- Certificate Authority verifies that the website owner is requesting for the SSL Certificate.
- Organization Validated Certificates- Certificate Authority investigates the organization ownership along with the name, location etc.
- Extended Validated Certificates- Certificate Authority deeply inquires about the organization validity location, legal status etc.
Number of secured domains/subdomains
- Single Domain- Protects a single subdomain/hostname.
- Wildcard- Protects an unlimited number of subdomains for a single domain.
- Multi-domain- Protects up to 100 domains with a single certificate.