Summary:
Secure Socket Layer is a security protocol to help to assure
you that transmission of information across the internet or intranet,
is
secure.
In particular, connections involving financial
transactions
with banks, credit card companies and internet sites. These companies
acquire digital certificates to authenticate
that they are "who
claim to be" from an trusted & independent third party.
Purpose:
To show how SSL can benefit you as a computer user to provide
a higher level of assurance the web site or people you are dealing with
are legitimate. To explain how to better secure and provide proof your
web site or server is authentic, especially if you are doing on-line
transactions. To provide some proof of "due diligence" that your organization
is taking the security of your user's information, and communications,
seriously.
Types of Certificates
Advice:
Users
Secure Socket Layer is a protocol (language-like, set of instructions)
that establishes specific security rules when you interact with a web site or
exchange
information
with
another
party. When viewing a web site, you can display a valid digital certificate if
available to show you have reached an authentic location. This is especially
important if you are concerned with revealing personal information, such as credit
card #, address, telephone number, etc. Web site owners must purchase SSL
certificates provide this extra level security to their Clients.
You are better able to establish the
authenticity of the site when a a lock symbol pops
up in the bottom right hand corner of your Internet Explorer browser. The site
information in your browser's address bar will change to a https://
address. A message can appear in your browser and it is important to note, if
something is out of order- expired, invalid, domain name doesn't match web site
accessed, etc. The message you want to see is "Security Alert". "You
are about view pages over a secure connection."
Should
you wish to validate the certificate, double left click on the lock
symbol to see it's intended purpose & use and of course, if it
is has a current date range. We like to click on "Certificate
Path" to make sure of the site and if the certificate is "ok",
before parting with any financial information. An expired certificate
can show a lack of commitment to your security. In addition,
the information you exchange is encrypted (made unreadable while in
transit) which significantly reduces the chance of being revealed,
if intercepted. By passing your mouse over the lock symbol will reveal
the encryption strength- typically 128 bit.
Does SSL, guaranty my surfing safety? No! Nor can it assure you the quality
of the relationship you are going to experience with a vendor. It can be compared
to crossing a busy street with the traffic signal (SSL) vr's. jumping blindly
out into heavy traffic (non-SSL). At the very minimum, you can assured the
vendor is interested in doing business with you and has taken positive steps
in providing you with a secure environment.
Web site designers
SSL certificates
A lot has to do with the platform you are on- shared or dedicated- Windows , Linux or Apple OS. By shared, we mean web space rented from a host provider that craves up the resources of a computer with lots of disk and memory. In other words, you can be sharing one machine with a bunch of other web sites This can work fine as long as those and your site is not using a huge amount of space, memory (especially graphics) and a huge volume of visitors. To SSL on top of that is not a great idea for numerous financial transactions from a speed and security point of view.
If you are considering, Secure Socket layers for your client's protection, we suggest going with a more expensive dedicated server or virtual server. Should you not be doing transactions of any type or handling sensitive information, either will do with volume of hits. images or concurrent users on your web site. If you are starting small to work your way up to transactions, email, data base searching and more volume, a shared platform is a lot less expensive. A great place to learn the ropes before launching a big web site with all the bells and whistles.
Then of course, you can connect your own system to the net. We find it is enough work to run a good site let alone managing the system, bandwidth, software, email, etc. Shared and dedicated services are relatively inexpensive in comparison to costs for hardware, routing, multi user operating systems and requires some specialized human skills.
