Guide to Understand Various SSL Certificate Types

SSL Certificate types

SSL is the acronym of Secure Socket Layer and is a digital certificate issued by Certificate Authority (CA). It is a set of protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting data and files over internet securely.

SSL Certificate types

Whenever a data is transmitted from a web browser to other browser then SSL encrypts those data and establish a secure connection between your web browser and the server allowing smooth and secure transmission.

SSL certificate uses mainly two keys to encrypt the data, first is the public key that everyone know and the second is the secret key which is only known to recipient. There are different kinds of SSLs which I discussed below.

SSL Certificates by Validation Level

As stated above, SSL certificate are of different types. Here I will be discussing about the SSL by validation level. Depending on the validation level, SSL certificates have been categorized in below three types mainly.

1. Extended Validation (EV)

EV SSL provides the highest level of trust and authenticity in all the available validation SSLs. The website which uses EV SSL, their address bar will show in green color. Mostly an e-commerce websites and social networking sites uses EV SSL. The very famous sites like eBay and Twitter uses EV SSL.

Here the certificate authority checks the right of the applicant and conduct through check of the organization or company before issuing this certificate. Some SSL Certificate Providers like ClickSSL provides EV SSL certificate at discounted price in the market on all major brands like GeoTrust, Thawte and Symantec.

One can find organization name, owner’s identity with certificate authority name on green address bar in leading web browsers today. It actually indicates that the website is protected with highest level of encryption as per EV standards. So must check SSL Certificate before buying any item online.

EV-SSL-Certificate

Browser compatibility is also important factor while installing EV SSL certificates. All Certificate Authority embedded their certificate to root of the browser such as Chrome, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, NetScape and other major browsers. If your certificate is issued by any an unknown Certificate Authority or self signed then your browser will show security warning.

2. Domain Validation (DV)

Domain validated SSL are the server certificates provides lowest level of validation available. To get this certificate you need to have any company validation and all and it can be obtained very easily. To get this certificate just you have to respond to the email with the same account that is in the whois account.

That’s all; there is no need of any company validation. Domain validated SSLs are the cheapest SSL certificates available and anyone can easily get this.

In short once you complete the validation process SSL Certificate provider will issue the certificate within minutes and you can protect your site immediately.

3. Organization Validation (OV)

Organization Validation is an SSL certificate where CA (Certificate Authorities) checks the right of the applicant and also verifies the identity from organization. When you order an OV SSL certificate your organization or company will be validated according to rules designed by certificate authority.

It usually takes 2-5 days in issuing an organizational validated SSL certificate to any company. Here you have to send the required document either physically or through Fax.

Organization Validation SSL Certificates are recommended for those eCommerce or online shopping cart website who having physically registered office/business or organization. OV certificate actually helps to gather more business then DV certificate.

SSL Certificate to Secure Domain

SSL certificates are very essential for any online business specifically where the online transactions are involved. Depending on the requirement there are different certificates available and you can use that. Users need to research about SSL Certificate providers on the internet before buying one. SSL certificates are available for single as well as multi domain.

1. Single Domain SSL

Single domain SSL certificates are the basic SSL certificate that are used on only one domain or sub domain. For example if you have a domain “example.com” so you can use.

These are the basic type of SSL and their cost is relatively low. Basically Single Domain SSL needs simple online validation process and once it verifies then user can get SSL Certificate within a minutes at very low price.

2. Wildcard SSL

If you have multi sub-domain and you need SSL in the entire domain then here Wildcard can help you. You don’t need to buy separate SSL for all the domain and so Wildcard can be best option here. Wildcard is a public key certificate which can be used on multiple sub domains on the same server.

It uses sub alternative names (SAN) to secure domains. WildCard SSL Certificate don’t need long and hectic process. Some resellers issue this certificate within a minute along with 30 days money back guarantee.

Here is the example where you can use WildCard SSL Certificate

Info.example.com
Photos.example.com
Blog.example.com

3. Multi Domain SSL

Multi domain SSL is also referred as SANs which can secure up to multiple domain names, sub domains and public IPs using only a single SSL. This certificate allows you to deploy the domain security feature and enable the secure client access which provides great level of security of the data between browser and the server.

So if you know the number of domains that you would be using then Multi domain SSL can be best option but if you need still more then Wildcard would be a perfect choice.

Conclusion:

As we know SSL certificates are now essential part of any online business and every business should use it depending on their need. Above are the few main SSLs that are used by the companies. I will advise before buying any SSL, you should first understand your demand and then only proceed.

Previous Post
Google chrome extension

A Guide to Google Chrome Extensions

Next Post
Social-media-events

Effective Ways to Boost Your Social Media Events Online

Related Posts