What
is an SSL Certificate?
An
SSL Certificate is a 128-bit SSL security tool to assist with e-commerce
or other secure communications on the Web. As used in SSL secured
Internet transactions, an SSL Certificate provides the following:
Confirmation
of Identity
SSL
Certificates provide every assurance that the only one who will receive
secure information is the same person or organization for which the
communication was intended.
Non-interception
The user's information cannot be intercepted or interpreted between
the user's browser and the intended server.
The
assurances provided through the use of by SSL Certificates are a necessity
for all e-commerce implementations and any communication in which
confidential information is exchanged. Those browsing the Internet
can rest assured that their communications are secured by a properly
authenticated SSL Certificate as evidenced by the appearance of a
little padlock in the frame of their Internet browser.
An
SSL Certificate is an identity statement that is digitally signed
by a certification authority that uses a properly authenticated private
key and public key pair to bind a public key to an identity. This
provides independent confirmation of identity. More formally, a certificate
is a computer-based record that:
1. Identifies the certification authority that issued it
2. Names, identifies, or otherwise describes an attribute of the subscriber
3. Contains the subscriber's public key
4. Contains the digital signature of the certification authority that
issued it
5. Provides a date range over which the certificate is valid
To obtain an SSL Certificate, a private key and public key pair must
be generated on the server and then authenticated by a certificate
authority that has the required recognition in the browser software.
Here's
how an SSL Certificate looks in action:
