You can’t put a price on internet security – or can you? Every business stands to lose its entire online success or reputation overnight without proper protection. Hackers are in front of their monitors probing and waiting for businesses on the web who are vulnerable to attack.
A quick test. Check your address bar. Right there on the left before the domain name is a lock icon, which shows if this website uses an SSL certificate like all serious sites on the internet. Indeed, you can’t mess with internet security.
For any business with an online presence, it is both a priority and a necessity, especially for e-commerce sites where sensitive information like credit card numbers are submitted. To ensure that sensitive data stays safe and secure for only you and the website to see-no one else.
That is why SSL certificates are a must.
A quick SSL reviewer
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. The SSL.com website defines it as “the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser remain private.”
In a nutshell, SSL links between the Internet browser and the server that encrypts the communication between them via cryptographic algorithms. These cryptographic algorithms are virtually impossible to crack.
SSL and data security
When you visit a website and fill out a form, the information you entered after submitting could be intercepted by a hacker on an unsecured “non-SSL” website.
One popular way hackers intercept this data is through a small, concealed listening program on the website’s hosting server. This program sits in the background waiting for visitors to submit a form from that website. The program captures the submitted information and sends it back to the hacker.
This is where SSL helps.
The difference between SSL and non-SSL sites is huge. When someone visits a website with SSL security, their browser will start a connection with the webserver, thus binding together browser and the Internet server. This binding connection makes sure that no one besides the visitor and the website they submitted to can see or access the information.
Then, after the client receives the connected data back from the server, the browser will check it and decide whether the SSL certificate can be trusted or not. Next, the server sends back an acknowledgement. After the server and client acquired the acknowledgement, an SSL encrypted session is created. This concludes to a connection authentication. Now an SSL session is established is complete and the client and server can share encrypted data safely – all in a matter of seconds.
Other SSL benefits
Besides the SSL’s main benefit of securing information between visitors and the websites, SSL also benefits search engine optimization (SEO) as well.
Google has already started using HTTPS as a ranking signal with the added benefit of encouraging all website owners to switch, which ultimately keeps everyone safe on the web.
Google also briefed that when comparing two websites, that with SSL enabled might receive a higher-ranking boost.
Activating SSL is a simple process. If you want your website to be secured, you can do so through your domain registrar. Most registrars, such as Crazy Domains, make distribution of SSL certificates easy, quick, and affordable.