SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate is a Digital certificate that can be used for authentication of a website, and it creates a secure connection between client and web server. When a certificate is installed it makes the website from HTTP to HTTPS.

Working process of SSL certificate :

The SSL certificate enables the encryption of data which is then sent to the server-side. It has two keys one is public and the other one is a private key. Data encrypted with the public key can be decrypted with a private key only. The web server with a private key can understand the data.  If data packets are stolen from in between those are useless because they are encrypted. 

Example –

You can check the screenshot for your understanding.

In this screenshot, you can clearly see that access to the geeks for the geeks portal is secure.

What kind of data SSL certificate contains :

• Domain name of website
• Sub-domains
• Issue date
• Expiration date
• SSL/TLS version
• Certificate authority information
• Public key
• Certificate signature algorithm

Note –

• SSL – Secure Socket Layer
• TLS – Transport Layer Security

What is the need for SSL certificate :

Every day new attacks and data breaches are happening and the growth of online transaction client’s data is very vulnerable. With SSL certificates we can ensure an encrypted connection between client and server.  

It can secure data as follows.

• Bank information
• Login information
• Credit/debit card details
• Hospital records
• Residential information

It builds trust in clients to share their personal information and doing transactions on the website. Mostly with E-commerce and Banking websites. It is also more preferred by search engines so it will show up in the search results.

Types of SSL certificates :

• Single-domain SSL certificates
• Wildcard SSL certificates
• Multi-Domain SSL certificates
• Unified Communications SSL Certificate

Types of SSL certificates validation levels :

• Domain validated certificates (DV SSL)
• Organization validated certificates (OV SSL)
• Extended validated certificates (EV SSL)

How to acquire an SSL certificate :

To acquire the valid certificate outside third-party certificate authorities (CA) are there. They give the certificates to the domains. CAs charge for the certificates for certain validity. Once the certificate is installed on the server then the data traffic will be encrypted and secure.