Brief Overview Of SSL Certificate Encrypted Security

SSL certificate is a small data file that helps in the binding cryptographic key to details of an organization. Upon installation, it activates the padlock and https//: a protocol that ensures a secure connection between the browser and the web server. If any web address is not secured using SSL certificate, upon transferring information (which is in readable form) through the Internet, the data can be seen and misused by anyone.

SSL certificate establishes an encrypted link in online communication between the server and the browser. To create an SSL connection, an SSL certificate is mandatory. SSL certificate is issued either to companies operating online or to legally accountable individuals. To be able to activate SSL certificate, a business owner needs to provide details about the identity of his website and the business, such as domain name, the name of the business, physical address (including the name of the city & country), etc. Once the certificate is uploaded, two cryptographic keys are created; these are a Private Key and a Public key. These keys are used to encrypt and decrypt data, thus provide security to data that is being transferred over the web.

There are a variety of SSL certificates available in the market but it is important to opt for an authorized certificate as it provides critical identity assurance that is important to establish trust between business and client. When dealing with e-commerce, a business must address to minimize risk and provide a secure way of collecting data from the client. When purchasing products and services online, a customer submits details like credit card number, phone number, etc. These details should be retrieved in a secure and integrated manner. For this, the business should implement a complete e-commerce trust infrastructure based on encrypted technology.

Encryption Technology

Encryption is a process of converting data to make it unintelligible to all unauthorized parties except the one who is an intended recipient. In this way, data integrity and data privacy can be maintained which has become essential for e-commerce. In simple words, we can say that encryption technology is used to convert data into a non-readable form and secure it from unauthorized parties and is received by the intended recipient in intelligible form. Main responsibilities performed by encryption technology are:

• To put data(file) into code
• Changing data into an unreadable form (unintelligible) using secret code
• To prevent accurate interpretation of data by the third party

What SSL Certificate Encrypted Security Provides?

Authenticity:

This can be explained in two parts. The first part is server authentication and another is client authentication. Let’s discuss them one by one in detail.

• Server authentication: Server along with data transfers public key, which is used by the client to encrypt data used to compute the secret key. The server can decrypt data and generate a secret key only if it has a valid private key.

• Client authentication: In this, the server uses the public key, provided in the client’s certificate, to decrypt data sent by the client. If the exchange of message is complete by using a secret key to encrypt, it confirms the authentication.

If in any case authentication step fails or is not complete, the session is terminated between the browser and the server.

Confidentiality:

To ensure message privacy, SSL uses a combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption. For every session, a unique set of the encryption algorithm and a shared secret key is used, ensuring the privacy of message even in case of interception.

Comparison Between Free SSL Certificate And Proper SSL Certificate

If you are looking for SSL certificate, either you can buy one from CA (Certification Authority) or you can get it on a trial basis for free. The good part of using a free version of SSL certificate is that you can use it while testing your website at an initial stage or even if you want to test your e-mail system. As soon as your website is ready to use, it is advisable to install a proper SSL certificate.

• A free version is available for a time period of less than one year or a maximum of one year, whereas proper Comodo SSL certificate is available for a time span of 1-3 years.
• When using a free SSL certificate for e-mail system, the main hassle you have to go through is to change it every single month, which is very inconvenient. Whereas, if you install a proper SSL certificate, once the setup is done, you can use it as long as you have opted for.
• Free SSL certificate only provides basic security, with no extra features; on the other hand, proper SSL certificate provides various levels of security, depending upon your requirements. In simple words, you cannot get a green bar with free SSL certificate.

As we have compared both free SSL certificate and proper SSL certificate, in case you want to choose Free SSL Certificate for the initial stage of our website, there are two options available:

Comodo Trial SSL
Rapid SSL trial

What’s good, what’s bad?

• The good thing about trial SSL Certificate is that it is absolutely free of cost. Along with being free, it works exactly like normal SSL certificates.
• Of course, it provides an encrypted link, which is essential for internet security, but an authentication form is very low. It means that your site is not 100% secure.
• Free SSL certificate is also not recommended for emails as the email may contain highly sensitive data, which can fall into wrong hands.
• Free SSL certificate has an advantage over proper SSL Certificate in terms of time taken in issuing the certificate. Free SSL Certificate takes few minutes whereas proper SSL Certificate might take a day.
• Proper SSL certificate comes with a warranty, but it is not the same case with Free SSL Certificate. Neither it has a green address bar i.e. no trust seal. So, before going for either of it, understand your requirements and choose accordingly.

What Are The Key benefits Of Getting An SSL certificate

The internet was introduced as an open mass correspondence facilitator and nobody figured security could be an issue one day. There are numerous security items and strategies are accessible in the market for various needs, however, a standout amongst the most widely recognized is a Secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. SSL is the transport protocol that encrypts the information exchanged between a browser and the server so hackers can't read information like credit card numbers. It enables HTTPS://where 'S' means 'secure' and shows a displays a padlock in the address bar, before the domain name. EV SSL certificate likewise demonstrates the organization's legal registered name in the address bar.

What are Wildcard SSL And Multidomain SSL Certificates?

If you have numerous domains or subdomains with various extensions (mysite.com, mysite2.com, mysite.ca, mysite2.org, and so on.) or subdomains (blog.mysite.com, login.mysite.com, gallery.mysite.com, and so on.) you don't have to purchase separate SSL for every one of them. Wildcard SSL is for securing multiple subdomains, and multidomain SSL is for securing various domain names under the same SSL certificate. There is another alternative named 'Multidomain Wildcard SSL' if you have both, multiple domains and subdomains.

All domains and subdomains can be covered under one SSL certificate. So, you don’t have to go through CSR generation, verification, installation, and renewal process separately for each of the domains. Plus, you can save a lot more money with these options.

Key Benefits Of An SSL Certificate

1. Just an SSL certificate can evacuate those pesky 'Not Secure' alerts and show the lock sign and empower HTTPS in the address bar. 
2. An SSL certificate shows that you are truly worried about your customers' information security. Your site visitors will consider your business authentic and can trust in your site. 
3. An SSL certificate will help your SEO efforts with better search engine rankings. 
4. All paid SSL certificates come with a warranty. In the case of encryption failure, the CA is responsible for paying the damages (up to the guaranteed sum) to the hacking unfortunate casualty. Encryption failure is rare yet not incredible. Hackers are consistently upgrading themselves and are accompanying absolutely new hacking methods! Even, trustworthy and well-secured sites are getting hacked. 
5. At the point When such incidences happen, the lawsuits involve a large number of damages which can severely hurt any business's financial health. It would be much more sensible to buy an SSL with a generous warranty. It will work like insurance if something goes wrong in the future.             
6. You can secure online banking, credit card transactions, system logins, passwords, and any sensitive data exchanged online. 
7. An SSL can likewise secure webmail, Outlook Web Access, Exchange, Office Communications Server, work process and virtualization applications, delivery platform, cloud-based computing platforms and hosting control panel logins.

If you need more information regarding SSL certificates. Give us a call on +1 (888) 606-7330. We will also help you to provide Comodo SSL Certificate for domain and sub-domain to secure your online business website.

Apple Improves SSL/TLS Support in Latest Operating Systems

SSL Certificate is very important when it comes to Internet security or website security. To keep the sensitive information of user/customer or organizational credentials secure, SSL certificate plays an important role. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) being a standard security protocol, establishes an encrypted link between browser and server to secure content from falling into wrong hands of the hacker. Comodo is cybersecurity platform providing best SSL certificate, naming Comodo SSL. Comodo provides the most reliable Comodo SSL certificate, which has enabled it to maintain its #1 rank in the world.

Apple is a renowned multinational company that designs, develops and sells hardware, software and mobile devices like iPod, IPad, and iPhones. During the annual WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) in 2017, Apple proclaimed updates of:

1. OS (Operating Systems) for its devices:

• High Sierra for iOS, macOS, and watchOS
• New hardware:-
• iPad Pro
• HomePod smart speaker

2. Advancement in network security standards

• SSL/TLS support
• Cryptographic libraries

Improved SSL/TSL Support

• SHA-1 signed the certificate: Many web browsers have stopped supporting SHA-1 signed certificates considering its vulnerabilities. As per Apple’s latest updates:

1. Apple has decided to end SHA-1 support in its new operating systems.
2. SHA-1 signed root certificates will continue to be supported.
3. Private keys less than 2048 bits will no longer be trusted.
4. Client certificate as well as SSL certificates, which are shared through Mobile Device Management, will continue to be supported.

• TLS 1.3: IEFT (Internet Engineering Task Force) is unable to finalize the TLS1.3 draft. But Apple has officially declared that it would provide support for TLS 1.3 draft specification in High Sierra and iOS 11.

1. This will facilitate developers to test TLS 1.3.
2. Apple had also mentioned that TLS 1.3 will offer drastically fast handshake time. This time will be just 1/3rd of the existing TLS connection speed.

Various web browsers which enabled TLS 1.3 are:

1. Firefox: Mozilla enabled TLS 1.3 in its Firefox web browser by default in the year 2017.
2. Google chrome: Due to compatibility issues, Google Chrome has disabled it after a short period of use.

3. SSL certificate Error User Interface:

In High Sierra and Safari, Apple has successfully managed to redesign the viewer’s certificate error user interface (UI). For better understanding let’s compare both

• Typical Certificate error UI

It will contain SSL-related technical terms such as signature, protocol, etc., which is difficult to understand for a person without technical knowledge.

• New UI

1. Even a non-technical user can understand it easily as Apple has eliminated such technical SSL related terms.
2. Descriptive messaging related to certificate


For further information on SSL certificate feel free to call us on our toll-free number +1(888) 606-7330. You can also write to us on E-mail address info@thesslstreet.com.
We also provide Comodo SSL certificate and many more along with their regular services. Our well-trained team works 24*7 / 365 days. We will be happy to help you at any point of the day. Just give us a call on our toll-free number.

Important Steps Were Taken By Authorities To Protect User’s Information

Believe it or not, but according to Google’s security team, NIC (India’s National Informatics Center) have been issuing unprincipled and dodgy SSL certificates. It has come to notice their that NIC has issued several unauthorized SSL certificates to various Google domains. These unauthorized certificates can be used to bluff and pretend as a legit Google website on different servers and can put user’s information at risk. With the use of such dodgy SSL certificate, it is easy to spy on or fiddle with user’s encrypted communication.

• Fake Certificate Security Issues

SSL/TLS (Security Socket Layer/ Transport Layer Security) encryption systems are badly hit by this dodgy SSL certificate, which was used to secure https:// connection. Various issues that have been raised so far are listed below:

• A warning was issued by Microsoft over ‘improper issued’ SSL certificate which could have resulted in a phishing attack.

• Apple also got alerted about the critical SSL flaw in Mac OS and iOS

• Google has warned CNNIC, an intermediate certificate authority, about the issuing of unauthorized digital certificates.

• Certificate Transparency

Google accepts that it is a serious breach of the CA system and such incidents indicate that Google’s Certificate Transparency efforts are critical for protecting the security of certificates in the future. Certificate transparency will help in:

Eliminating security flaws as it will provide an open framework to monitor and audit SSL certificate in near real time.

• Detect Fake SSLs.

Identifying CAs attempt to issue unauthorized SSL certificates
Pinning public key can specify authorized SSL certificates.
Issuing authorities as well as can reject fake dodge SSL certificates.

• Google Logging System

Google engineers have come up with a logging system that brings together CAs (ones that are trusted) and CAs working hard to build its goodwill. They have managed to issue a list of these CA’s on a public platform and specified those that are no longer trusted by browsers. The main mission of this system is to:

• Protect its user from fake and illegally issued SSL certificates
• Provide public record information of the certificates issued for specific domains

Important Steps Were Taken By Authorities To Protect User’s Information

Believe it or not, but according to Google’s security team, NIC (India’s National Informatics Center) have been issuing unprincipled and dodgy SSL certificates. It has come to notice their that NIC has issued several unauthorized SSL certificates to various Google domains. These unauthorized certificates can be used to bluff and pretend as a legit Google website on different servers and can put user’s information at risk. With the use of such dodgy SSL certificate, it is easy to spy on or fiddle with user’s encrypted communication.

• Fake Certificate Security Issues

SSL/TLS (Security Socket Layer/ Transport Layer Security) encryption systems are badly hit by this dodgy SSL certificate, which was used to secure https:// connection. Various issues that have been raised so far are listed below:

• A warning was issued by Microsoft over ‘improper issued’ SSL certificate which could have resulted in a phishing attack.

• Apple also got alerted about the critical SSL flaw in Mac OS and iOS

• Google has warned CNNIC, an intermediate certificate authority, about the issuing of unauthorized digital certificates.

• Certificate Transparency

Google accepts that it is a serious breach of the CA system and such incidents indicate that Google’s Certificate Transparency efforts are critical for protecting the security of certificates in the future. Certificate transparency will help in:

Eliminating security flaws as it will provide an open framework to monitor and audit SSL certificate in near real time.

• Detect Fake SSLs.

Identifying CAs attempt to issue unauthorized SSL certificates
Pinning public key can specify authorized SSL certificates.
Issuing authorities as well as can reject fake dodge SSL certificates.

• Google Logging System

Google engineers have come up with a logging system that brings together CAs (ones that are trusted) and CAs working hard to build its goodwill. They have managed to issue a list of these CA’s on a public platform and specified those that are no longer trusted by browsers. The main mission of this system is to:

• Protect its user from fake and illegally issued SSL certificates
• Provide public record information of the certificates issued for specific domains

How Do You Get An SSL Certificate For Your Website?

With the rapid use of technology, most of the data is shared or transferred via the internet. Let it be personal information, data related to finance/money or government, most of the work is being done through the web in order to save time and makes the work easier. To safeguard our data from being misused or modified while establishing a connection/link between a browser and a server we need SSL Certificate.

SSL Certificate:

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is important when personal details, sensitive data or confidential data is being transferred using the internet. In order to secure it from being misused by a third party or hacker, we need an extra layer of security- SSL. To provide internet security, the data being shared between a server and a browser is encrypted before sharing thus remains safe from being accessed by the wrong person or misused by any third party. 

How To Get SSL :

The most widely way to get an SSL certificate is to check if your current website hosting provider offers any SSL certificates. Up until recently, all SSL versions were a paid feature. However, more and more companies have started to release free SSL certificates, including huge names like Symantec. But Let’s Encrypt, an all-around initiative to democratize website security has stepped to the fore. Formed by a group of experts from driving IT organizations, Let's Encrypt has figured out how to change site security by making it simple for everybody to have a safe association with their site. Furthermore, the organization additionally as of late discharged Wildcard SSL certificate for nothing.

Still, in certain conditions, it is better if you use paid Certificate Authority. If you have an enterprise-level site, consider utilizing an EV certificate. The EV certificate has an exacting confirmation process and will include much progressively visible indicators of trust like the name of your organization, country abbreviation, green bar in the URL of the browser and then some.

To sum up, the advantages of activating SSL certificates for your business or personal websites are inconceivable, and some web hosting providers have made installing them simple and quick. Try not to miss to advantage the HTTPS revolution, include an additional layer of security for your site security and increase their trust.

How Do You Get An SSL Certificate For Your Website?

With the rapid use of technology, most of the data is shared or transferred via the internet. Let it be personal information, data related to finance/money or government, most of the work is being done through the web in order to save time and makes the work easier. To safeguard our data from being misused or modified while establishing a connection/link between a browser and a server we need SSL Certificate.

SSL Certificate:

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is important when personal details, sensitive data or confidential data is being transferred using the internet. In order to secure it from being misused by a third party or hacker, we need an extra layer of security- SSL. To provide internet security, the data being shared between a server and a browser is encrypted before sharing thus remains safe from being accessed by the wrong person or misused by any third party. 

How To Get SSL :

The most widely way to get an SSL certificate is to check if your current website hosting provider offers any SSL certificates. Up until recently, all SSL versions were a paid feature. However, more and more companies have started to release free SSL certificates, including huge names like Symantec. But Let’s Encrypt, an all-around initiative to democratize website security has stepped to the fore. Formed by a group of experts from driving IT organizations, Let's Encrypt has figured out how to change site security by making it simple for everybody to have a safe association with their site. Furthermore, the organization additionally as of late discharged Wildcard SSL certificate for nothing.

Still, in certain conditions, it is better if you use paid Certificate Authority. If you have an enterprise-level site, consider utilizing an EV certificate. The EV certificate has an exacting confirmation process and will include much progressively visible indicators of trust like the name of your organization, country abbreviation, green bar in the URL of the browser and then some.

To sum up, the advantages of activating SSL certificates for your business or personal websites are inconceivable, and some web hosting providers have made installing them simple and quick. Try not to miss to advantage the HTTPS revolution, include an additional layer of security for your site security and increase their trust.

Use HTTPS to Secure Your E-Commerce Website

HTTPS: 

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the online protocol for secure communications over the internet and one of the most effortless approaches to help secure your e-commerce site from fraud. Assigned by a closed green lock icon on the browser address bar, HTTPS sites are considered valid and secure on them because they're certified. This implies the site really is what it's claiming to be and not a fake site placed online to trick clients with the goal that trouble makers can get to credentials, credit card data, and more.

To empower HTTPS, SMBs need to get a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate. Accepting an SSL certificate is the initial step, this now should be implemented carefully in your e-commerce solution. This SSL Certificate Buyer's Guide covers this procedure in detail. While most e-commerce site hosts will have an SSL certificate available to be purchased, it pays to search around with outsiders as some vendors offer a superior cost and extra security capacities.

WHY   HTTPS

The advantages of utilizing HTTPS go beyond security and reliability. Google gives secure HTTPS sites a higher search ranking, leading to more visitors. Alternately, Google also names unencrypted sites as "not secure,"  which makes them appear sketchy and unsafe. Nowadays, there are not many quicker approaches to get a potential client to pass your site by.

Many online customers will timid away from a site that is deemed insecure or that doesn't have the "HTTPS" designation. As indicated by the 2018 Global Fraud and Identity Report by customer credit reporting company Experian, 27 percent of online customers surrendered a transaction because of due to lack of visible security.

HTTPS is presently authorized on US government sites, which could mean it's simply a matter of time before it is a standard requirement for online business sites, as well. It is challenging for existing web-based business sites that aren't HTTPS-certified to include the feature if it hasn't worked in initially. SMBs planning their e-commerce websites from scratch have the benefit of planning their answers in view of HTTPS security.

What Is Wildcard And EV SSL Certificates

SSL Certificate acts as a backbone of the Internet security system. It provides an encrypted link between a browser and a server, which helps in transferring or sharing data in encrypted form to keep the data integral and secure from falling in the wrong hands and from being misused. There are many types of SSL certificates available in the market, but it depends upon the requirement of the applicant, what level of SSL certificate would suit him the best. Higher the security required, higher the level of SSL certificate is needed.

Wildcard certificate: If you own a domain and multiple subdomains, and you want to secure them all, instead of buying a certificate for every single domain and subdomain, you can buy Wildcard certificate, which will secure an unlimited number of subdomains but to a specific level. Along with providing security to multiple domains and subdomains, it will also save your time and money, which you would have wasted in buying and installing multiple certificates for every single domain and subdomain.

Technically, we can say that a Wildcard Certificate is a public key certificate and it can be used with numerous sub domains of a domain. The primary use of this certificate is to secure website prefixed with https ://. A single Wildcard certificate works for your convenience and saves a lot of time, but it also protects or secures the main domain as well as its subdomain at the same time.

EV SSL certificate:  EV stands for Extended Validation Certificate and it involves strict selection process of validation to make sure that the entity requesting for this certificate is legal and genuine. If a website is secured with a certified EV SSL certificate, it will be indicated by the Green colored address bar. Similar to Wildcard Certificate, Extended Validation Certificate is also used for websites prefixed with https:// and also for software that verifies legal entity, which controls the software package or website itself. To obtain EV Certificate, CA (Certification Authority) will verify the identity of the applicant and if the information provided by the entity is correct then the certificate is issued. Verification here is very important because EV certificate provides a higher level of security.

Important Website Security Tips To Keep Your Company And Customers Safe Online

In the rush to get new e-commerce business organization online, you might be tempted to sidestep some security best practices. In any case, doing as such puts your whole business in risk. If you don't organize cybersecurity inside your association and site, there is a decent chance hacker will make you sorry you didn't take the time.

1. Pick A Safe Host 

As an online business retail organization, you are in charge of the majority of the client information stored on the site and servers, including the historical backdrop of credit card transactions. Yet, it's difficult to keep this sort of private data secure If you can't believe the server and platform where it lives.

To contend in the online world of retail, you should put resources into a security-disapproved, powerful cloud have that enables you to scale up or down dependent on client traffic and sales levels.

2. Add SSL Protection

For significant serenity for both you and your client, it's essential to empower secure socket layer (SSL) protection on your site. When you obtain an SSL certificate and install it on your servers, it encodes all information streaming between the server and a client's browser. As an online business organization, you are responsible of keeping your SSL certificate refreshed all the time.

3. Encode Client Information 

With an SSL certificate, you secure client information from the browser point of view. But doesn't secure a hacker from trying to penetrate your back-end systems and take data directly from the source. Therefore, it is basic to have encryption instruments ensuring your databases and servers. Clearly, the objective is to prevent cybercriminals from consistently accessing your corporate network. Yet, you should be set up for the opportunity it occurs. If your database tables are stored in a plain-content configuration, at that point there will be nothing to stop hackers from extricating information and taking email addresses, telephone numbers, and passwords.

4. Back-up Your Information 

Each e-commerce retailer needs to build up a disaster recovery plan if there should arise an occurrence of a major cybersecurity attack or blackout. The objective is to restore service to your core site and servers as quickly as possible

To totally defend against hackers, your organization must have a severe backup policy on every single key database. Best practices dictate that storage systems should be replicated across multiple global instances so that regardless of whether your essential database crashes in a region, you can exchange all traffic to another rapidly.

5. Stay Compliant

With internet security becoming a major topic worldwide, organizations that store client information online must be diligent about their strategies and practices. Europe, specifically, has conveyed center to this area. The legislation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was passed in 2018.

Under the guidelines of GDPR, any site that is accessible to European clients must control information in an appropriate way to remain agreeable. Clients must be informed about how their information is shared and be alerted if a break happens. Inability to satisfy this guideline could result in critical fines and penalties.

What Is SSL Certificate And Web Encryption

On SSL secured websites, it is impossible to replace its contents without authorization. It makes it difficult for hackers to download malware through SSL protected websites. Due to this reason, most of the big players in the virtual world have switched to HTTPS:// from HTTP://. Even Google search engine gives preference to websites that are HTTPS:// prefixed over HTTP:// prefix. The necessity of SSL certificate and web encryption is increasing day-by-day with the increasing use of the web for financial services and important communication. According to experts, soon will come the day when the entire web will be secured by an SSL certificate.

It has become very common to share private and sensitive information over the internet due to various reasons like online shopping, membership forms for availing various services over the net or paying home rent; the list can go on and on. This sensitive information may include your bank login ID, credit card details, home address, and even E-mail password. This type of information, if fallen into wrong hands, can lead to some serious consequences. Due to which it has become essential to prioritize internet security. And the best way to provide security over the net is through encryption.

Importance of SSL Certificate And Web Encryption:

Middle-man-attack is very common if the data is not transferred through a secured link/connection. While using a public Wi-Fi network or open-network, chances of middle-man-attack (hacker) multiple as these types of connections are usually not well guarded and are way easier to crack. There are cases where hackers managed to crack a legitimate non-secure Wi-Fi network using special software or bugs inside a router. This may worry you but there is a solution to everything and in this case, using HTTPS protocol is the best solution to avoid such incidence to occur.

HTTPS certificate ensures a secure and encrypted connection as it offers point-to-point encryption. You may wonder what it means and how it protects your data. Well, point-to-point encryption means that all the data being transferred is encrypted using a strong encryption algorithm before sending to the destination server. By using a special key, which is shared only with the destination server, the encrypted data can be decrypted. No other machine can decrypt the data.

Conclusion:

Malware and data breach has become very common and it has affected many entrepreneurs and individuals around the world. Due to which, the necessity of Internet security has become the prime concern. The volume of encrypted traffics has increased rapidly in the past decade and has surpassed the average volume of unencrypted traffic. The Green lock next to address has become more common. This shows that people have become more concerned about web security and take it very seriously than ever before and are using SSL certificate-based encryption for data protection.

If you need more information regarding this or you need help in getting Comodo SSL certificate for your website, we are just a call away. Give us a call on our toll-free number +1 (888) 606-7330or write us on info@thesslstreet.com, our team of experts will be happy to help you.

Importance Of Intermediate Certificates For Internet Security

In this article, we are going to discuss intermediate certificates installation and its importance for Internet security. Every time you install an intermediate SSL certificate, make sure it is installed properly because one missing link can trigger warning and visitors may abandon your website.  also, mobile browsing is very commonly used nowadays. Without properly installing intermediate SSL certificate, you are putting your site credentials as well as browser’s information at risk. Now before going further, let us first understand ‘what is intermediate SSL certificate?’

Intermediate SSL Certificate

It is a subordinate certificate, which is issued and signed by the trusted root certificate. It is signed specifically to issue end-entity server certificate. This results in a certificate chain, which begins at the trusted root Certificate Authority (issuer), through the intermediate. This certificate chain ends with the SSL certificate issued by the end-user. In simple words, proper SSL chain links certificate of an end-user to a root certificate.

 It is important to understand that root certificate do not sign every certificate. In such a situation, intermediate certificates come into play. Intermediate certificate falls in between the root certificate and the end-user SSL certificate. It is basically used to sign SSL certificate of end-user, which is used on a website and completes the digital SSL security chain.

Importance of Intermediate SSL Certificates

In case of missing intermediate SSL certificate, various browsers act differently. Whether you are accessing for mobile devices or desktops, every browser is designed to act differently in such cases. For example:

• Google Chrome will immediately go out and fetch a missing intermediate certificate.
• Firefox will look for any saved intermediate certificate from another website or previous session.
• Sometimes Firefox triggers security warnings, in case of missing intermediate certificates.
• While browsing over mobile devices, missing intermediate certificate generates a security warning. There can be cases where browsers have issues with improper installation of intermediate certificates.

For a secure and uninterrupted session, it is best to install an Intermediate SSL Certificate.

Testing Intermediate SSL Certificate after Installation

After successfully installing the SSL certificate, it is important to check whether it has been installed properly and is working as required. ‘WHY NO PADLOCK’ service can check it for you. It:

• Verifies validations of intermediate SSL certificate
• Verifies START and END DATES (checks whether the date is current and not expired)
• Verifies whether the certificate is signed by a valid CA
• Verifies the SSL chain (all the certificates including intermediate certificate are installed properly)
• Checks for allowed SSL Protocols

If you need more information regarding SSL Certificate. Give us a call on our toll-free number +1 (888) 606-7330 or write us on info@thesslstreet.com, our team of experts will be happy to assist you.

How To Select The Right Certificate For Business Websites

SSL, as a protocol, is obsolete, however. SSL means "secure sockets layer" and it's a security protocol used to transmit information over the internet. Basically, two machines get in touch with one another, agree on an encryption model and open a safe tunnel between them. To put it plainly, the protocol manages encryption and the declaration manages confirmation. For whatever length of time that you have an SSL certificate, it very well may be utilized for SSL or TLS. Not all SSL certificates are made similarly, however.

Choosing the Right Certificate

Before introducing an SSL certificate on WordPress, you'll have to know which one you should purchase. There are three types of certificates: domain-validated, organization validated and extended validation.

DV certificates are high-risk, which means your domain has been confirmed yet nothing else. You can by and large get them for nothing, be that as it may, with browsers cracking action against encoded connections, regardless you'll get a red lock in Chrome.

The other two are progressively secure. OV certificates confirm that your business is authentic and utilize that to demonstrate your site is trustworthy. EV is the equivalent however occurs consistently and the verification procedure is more strict.

OV and EV certificates are substantially more costly. If you don't have text entry on your site, at that point you're fine not having an SSL certificate or utilizing a free one through your web hosting provider. If you have to such an extent as a contact form, however, Chrome will show a red lock and possibly a notice to those landing on your website. If you run a blog that has a comment section, for instance, Chrome will demonstrate a red lock, however, won't display a warning.

You may see “wildcard” SSL certificates floating around while shopping. They don't change the verification method yet check all the subdomains on a site.

How To Get A Green Lock Bar SSL Certificate For Your Website (HTTPS)

SSL Certificate

It is a data file, which provides a secure connection between a web server and a browser. It provides a secure encrypted link/connection between a server and a browser via which data can be transferred or shared in a secured form. Data can be passed over the internet without compromising its privacy, integrity, and security. There are different levels of SSL certificate and those are:

Extended Validation (EV)
Organization Validation (OV)
Domain Validation (DV)

Extended validation certificate (EV)

Out of all SSL certificates, Extended Validation certificate (EV) is the highest of available SSL certificates. Although all SSLs use almost the same powerful encryption technique, to get EV you require accurate selection process. We can say that all the levels differ in the process of identity verification and how the particular certificate is displayed. Once you get EV SSL certificate, you get a green address bar, which gives the feeling of security to all the visitors of that particular website.

Green address bar

If a company has EV SSL Certificate, its address bar (padlock), https, company name and country will be green in color. If the connection is partially encrypted, then the browser will issue a warning message which will indicate that the domain is not fully secured and can be hacked by a third party or hacker. For a domain which is fully secure or has a higher level of SSL certificate, a green padlock is shown. If in case, content is loaded over HTTP rather than https, the green address bar will not be shown, which indicates that connection is not fully secure.


How to get EV certificate and how it provides security?

To get EV SSL Certificate, you have to go through the globally standardized identification process, which is a verification process that gives exclusive rights to use a domain by confirming the legality, physical existence, and authenticity of the company. All the information along with the name of the company and location is included in the EV certificate. Once you get EV Certificate, HTTPS and padlock in the browser address bar are activated along with the name of the verified website owner. It gives a secure feeling to the visitor to perform financial transactions.

Get Your Online Transactions Secured With Comodo SSL Certificates

The present era is the era of technology. We are depended upon technology for almost every single thing. From paying our electricity bills, booking tickets, banking, to online shopping, everything can be done by just a few clicks. When we make use of the Internet for such things, where financial transitions take place, it becomes of utmost importance to carry out it in a secure environment, an environment where a customer can feel safe to make such transactions. If in case, your information is hacked by the third party, it can be easily misused without any trace, or even worse.

So it has become necessary to get technology, with the use of which our information remains safe and secure. Comodo SSL Certificate, the most trusted CA (Certification Authority) provides such a secure environment to carry out the online activities.

Comodo SSL Certificate

Comodo SSL Certificate provides a trusted and secure environment, within which you can carry out E-commerce transactions, without fearing of information falling into wrong hands. Comodo SSL Certificate is only issued to those entities whose verification and authentication is been checked via intense verification process, and whose physical existence is also thoroughly checked.

Securing E-commerce Transaction

Most people often visit various sites to make a purchase, despite a heavy discount and good price; they restrain from making any kind of purchase online. This happens because they do not feel comfortable about sharing their credit card details or bank details online. To gain this trust and feeling of security, it becomes important to secure your site with SSL certificate and when we talk about trust and security, Comodo is the name that strikes our mind.

Once you install Comodo SSL certificate on your website, your website address will be prefixed with https:// instead of http:// as well as a lock will appear on the address bar. By clicking on this lock icon customer can know the details about the company and SSL certificate used by it. This makes the customer certain about the security measures are taken by the company and in return, will help in gaining the trust of the customer. By looking at the address, your customer can easily identify that your website is secure and that it is safe to conduct E-commerce transaction.

When you make any financial transaction on websites that are secured by Comodo SSL certificate, the information shared while performing such transaction is encrypted so that it cannot be misused or hacked or modified. The link between your Internet browser and the server is in encrypted form so as to create a secure environment. Such measures are important to follow because information such as credit card details, password, login ID, etc, can be misused which will put the customer as well as the company into trouble. So if you are an owner of a website that conducts e-commerce transaction, it is advisable to install Comodo SSL certificate (if not already installed) before it’s too late.

A Look Into Changes and Enhancements For Managed SSL

Most of the enterprises require more than one SSL certificate for various domains and sub-domains. With an increase in the number of certificates for various profiles, difficulty in managing them increases. To ease this task few changes and enhancements have been made.

Here in The SSL Street, we believe in giving the best services to our customers at a very nominal price. We believe in providing the best solutions to our clients for a smooth running of certificate lifecycle and management process. We have successfully made some changes and updates for better customer experience.s

•    PKI platform for domain
•    Profile management for SSL certificate
•    New features and User Interface (UI) enhancement

Various Changes And Enhancements For Managed SSL

1. ‘Managed Domains & Profile’ page

Keeping our clients in mind, we have updated ‘Managed Domains and Profiles’ page to give them a more intuitive and easier interface. It will make it easier for our clients to manage their profiles as well as domains.a
This improved layout contains various icons for common actions. Few of the changes are listed below to get a better idea:

•    Design change in how profile information is displayed.
•    Quick access to 'manage existing domain'
•    Allowing an easy way to add a new domain
•    Ease in requesting a public ordering page
•    Editing profile with a click of a button

2. ‘Managed Domains’ Page

To display all the domains of a particular profile, a new page ‘Managed Domain’ has been created. This will help the user in managing their domains directly within a specific profile. This page will provide a more effective way to view and access domain information for any individual profile. Various things that the user can go through a ‘Managed Domain’ page are:

•    Set permissions for a domain to control:
o    Who can place orders
o    Approval of orders
o    Revoke certificates at the domain level
•    Renewal
•    Verification
•    View status of all domains

This is important for website security too as only authorized and right employee can have access to domains within their scope of work.

3. ‘Domain order History’ page

With new Domain Order History page, you get a filtered list option (for all the orders for domains within an account) with the help of which you can view all the domains within an organization’s entire account. This filterable list can help the user in various things, such as:

•    Setting permission
•    Removing Domain
•    Viewing the status of all domains

In a nutshell, Domain Order History page helps a user in reviewing the history and status of all the domains with the use of a filterable list and allows them to make a decision accordingly.

4. Enhanced Automated Domain Validation option

An organization can contain multiple profiles in a Managed SSL account. So, it is possible that different departments or even companies may exist under one SSL account. It is important to understand that each of these sub-divisions may have their own profile. These profiles normally contain unique enterprise data tied to a particular set of domains. Prior to the ‘Automated Domain Validation’ option, each of these organization profiles was manually verified. Not only profiles but every domain added to these profiles were also manually verified. This option has reduced the effort that was earlier put in for verification.

The changes and enhancements made for Managed SSL have proven to save a lot of time. It has eased the task of managing, verifying and renewing SSL certificates. With just a few clicks these tasks can be done easily without investing much time in locating the information related to domain or certificates.

For further details please contact us on our toll-free number +1 (888) 606-7330.

Guide To Add HTTPS SSL Certificate To WordPress Website

Why HTTPS  

We all are well aware of the term “HTTP:” that was widely used decades ago or two but, with the change in technology there is a drastic change in the way we do things on daily basis now. With an increase in usage of the internet there is an increase in the threat; the threat of personal or sensitive information. To put a stop on that, HTTPS SSL Certificate is the most reliable and effective solution. HTTPS, in simple words, is the secure version of HTTP, which is commonly used to protect personal information like address, passwords and especially information related with money, like bank account details, credit card details, etc.

What is SSL Certificate & How To Install It?

SSL Certificates normally installed by the company that provides the domain but installation can also be done online. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and is used to provide security by encrypting the information that is being exchanged between a website and an internet browser. Single domain SSL can only cover one domain or subdomain but if there is a requirement for multiple domains, wildcard SSL certificate are used.

With an increase in the usage of technology in our day-to-day work, there is an increase in the risk of personal information being misused. We do most of our work online, like online shopping, managing our bank accounts, sharing our personal information via login forms, passwords, etc. Now the main concern is how to protect this sensitive information from hackers. SSL is the most effective and reliable solution for this problem. SSL certificate provider issues a digital certificate to the individual or the company/organization only after verifying its identity. Each site is provided with a unique SSL Certificate for identification purposes. As the awareness increases, it becomes essential to get an SSL Certificate because most people look for https://prefix before making any online transaction.

Features & Benefits

• Domain validated, 2048 bit Industry Standard SSL Certificate
• Immediate "No Hassle" SSL certificate issuance 24/7
• Unlimited server licenses
• Automated validation - no paperwork
• Risk-free 30-day refund policy
• Free site seal
• Unlimited Re-issuance Policy

Difference between SSL and EV

For a much higher level of security, EV Certification is required. It is at present, the highest form of SSL Certificate. EV stands for Extended Validation. This certificate is used for https websites and software that provide the legal entity controlling the website or software package. To obtain an EV certificate, there is a requirement of verification of the requesting entities by a certificate authority.

Since EV SSL is a higher level of certification, for verification of the company, the owner of the website has to go through a globally standardized identity verification process in order to get exclusive rights to use a domain as well as to confirm that it is genuine and legal, operational and existential.

Why SSL Certificate Is Necessary For Small Business?

Consistently hackers are finding numerous approaches to hack a site and break its client's delicate data. According to a survey website, web specialists discovered Small E-commerce Business are hacker’s primary focus since recent years. The explanation for these attacks is the absence of security instrument in site and server both.

SSL Certificates

SSL certificates are meant to verify the communication between an internet browser (Client) and server, which implies amid information transmission everything remains encoded and verified and it will never again be permitted to access by anyone. An SSL certificate contains solid Cryptographic Algorithm which is comprised of hash work which secures site and encodes everything.

Why SSL Certificate for Small Business?

Offers High-Security Environment – an SSL certificate encodes site with its 2048-bit strong signature and 256-bit longer encryption key length. This mix of mark and encryption key is particularly harder for cyber attackers to break.

Markers to Boost up Business Sales – There are some SSL certificate indicators, for example, a Green address bar, organization name in URL, site seal, and HTTPS://in URL. These all SSL certificate pointers guarantee the client's that a site is secured and encoded utilizing a trusted SSL Certificate Authority, the business is veritable and real, and there will be no harm to impart financial and personal information with it.

Increases Business Sale and conversation rate – Adopting SSL certificates encourage entrepreneurs to win more cash by expanding the conversation rate, and it additionally supports up to a business reputation over the internet.

Ranking Boost in Google – Recently Google declared to hike ranking in SERP for the site who have received an SSL Certificate for client's security, which implies if an independent company installs an SSL certificate into its sever, Google will assist it with increasing positioning and to manufacture an initial position in the web search engine.

Reasons To Switch Your SSL Provider Or Certificate Authority

On searching for new CA or SSL provider, there should be certain things kept in your mind. These are cost & value, features & benefits, support & service, CLM, and compatibility. If your current SSL provider is not fulfilling all your business needs and you do not see the longevity of this partnership, then it’s the right time to switch. Another reason for switching can be trusted CA.  Not only pricing but we should also consider other factors before coming to a decision. Let us discuss few of them one by one in detail:

1. Value of the Product: One of the main factors that help in decision making is costing, which we can’t neglect. But it is not an adequate reason for choosing an SSL provider. Value of the product is also as important as its costing. For example, if you choose cost over value, you might end up compromising with the security needs. This will not be considered a wise decision. It is important to understand the business requirements and needs. You should also keep in mind your near future requirements as well as the long-term goals of your company.

2. Features & Benefits: Every SSL provider will lure you with various benefits and features in order to sell their product. Be smart, choose wisely and evaluate offers given by different providers. Keeping value in mind, go through all the offers and choose the one that fulfills the needs of your business. These offers could be:

• Additional value-added service (free of cost)
• Automatic renewal of SSL certificate
• Unlimited Service licenses

3. Comprehensive Lifecycle Management (CLM): CLM includes basically three things. These are:

• Discovering
• Taking inventories
• Managing all SSL certificate across your network including cloud service

A reputed CA will always provide you with a user-friendly and time effective tool. Now the question arises ‘can your team put this tool to work instantly?’

Also, do not forget to check whether your CA offers the following two important things:

• Dedicated account management
• Continued support for any kind of issue related to SSL    

4. Compatibility: 

While switching, it is important to look for a trusted SSL provider or CA. Major Browsers (Chrome, Mozilla Firefox) have joined their hands and made a list of trusted CA. Certificates issued by these CAs are compatible with almost all the browsers and devices. On choosing a new CA, a few things you should ask them before finalizing are:

How long they have been running as a CA or SSL provider?
About browsers and devices, and what are their certificates are compatible with

5. Support & Service:

Service and support is a very important aspect of building strong relationships and is what you should consider while switching your SSL provider. Check various support services like:

• Support for different languages
• Support irrespective of time zone difference
• Support over phone
• Response time
• Accuracy and time took to respond or resolve a query

While switching SSL provider, make sure you do not fall victim to some marketing strategy. Lower cost can mean that they may not facilitate you with all the features they have mentioned.

If you need more information regarding SSL Certificate Give us a call on +1 (888) 606-7330. We will also help you to provide Comodo SSL Certificate for domain and sub-domain to secure your online business website.

How Comodo SSL Certificate Provides Security?

SSL(Secure Socket Layer) is a protocol designed to create an encrypted link/connection between a web server and a browser, which is not easy to hack. With the help of SSL, we can share our private information or sensitive information safely and securely via the Internet. When we use the internet for filling online forms and enter our personal details or do online shopping by using an e-commerce site, doing online banking, sharing credit card details; our main concern is to prevent our data from being hacked, modified or misused by any third party.

Need for SSL Connection

In normal cases, data is transferred or shared in simple text form, which gives advantage to hackers to misuse or modify it easily, which is a big security threat. To overcome this, SSL provides an encrypted link, which converts the data into a non-readable form, and then this encrypted data is transferred between the server and the browser through a secure link that nullifies the risk of data being hacked. To get this kind of security, all you need is an SSL Certificate.

How SSL Certificate Provides Security

SSL acts as a backbone of secure internet, without which data that travels around the world via the internet cannot be protected from falling into wrong hands, as it travels from one server to another in simple text form, which can easily be hacked, modified or misused. When we use the internet, we would prefer a secure connection before making any purchase or sharing our personal details. SSL ensures data security over the internet.

SSL certificate has a pair of keys; one is a public key and another one is a private key. To establish a secure/encrypted connection, these keys work together. This certificate also contains the identity of the owner and in technical language, it is known as SUBJECT. CSR (Certificate Signing Request) must be created to get an SSL certificate, which in return creates a set of keys (public and private key). Then CSR data file that contains public key is sent to CA (Certificate Authority). This data file is used for creating the data structure to match private key but due to security reasons, CA can never see the private key. Once the certificate is issued by CA, install it on your server. When the installation of an SSL certificate is complete, this server certificate is connected with CAs certificate in order to establish reliability and credibility of an SSL certificate. It is important to buy an SSL certificate from an authorized or trusted Certificate Authority (CA) because most the browsers come with a pre-installed list of trusted CAs and will only acknowledge them. So the user can trust the site with Comodo SSL certificate and can feel free to share private and sensitive information required by that particular site

Why Digital Certificate Is Important For Your Company Website

A digital certificate is, more or less, an identification card or you can say an electronic card that confirms or certifies the online transaction as well as another authentication on the internet. When we install a certificate, two keys are generated; one is a public key and another one is a private key. The public key is issued by Certification Authority (CA) on e-commerce sites, email, finance related sites or emails whereas Private Key is required to decrypt the data transferred or shared.

We can also refer to a digital certificate as an electronic passport, as it allows an organization or an individual to exchange information over the internet in a secured form using the public key infrastructure (PKI). This digital certificate is commonly referred to as a public key certificate. These certificates authenticate legality of communication and transaction between server and browser or sender and receiver. These certificates also validate surfing sites or portal.

Purpose of Digital Certificates

Security is the main purpose of these digital certificates. When we work online and log in our details, make a financial transaction, security is the first thing that comes into our mind. Before we share data, we check for the reliability of that website. But how can we be sure that our data is transferred securely? To build trust website owner opt for SSL certificate. To make sure data is transferred securely when the SSL certificate is issued, two keys (Public and private) are issued along with it. The public key is attached along with the electronic message for security purposes. A digital certificate verifies the user, whom she or he is claiming to be and granting the message sent to the receiver along with the public key securely and with a way to encode a reply. The message sent is in encrypted form and once it reaches its destination, the private key is required to decrypt data in a readable form. This encryption and decryption of data ensure internet security.

Importance of Digital Certificate

Digital certificates are quite important; let us discuss them in details one by one:

• Communication Security: Digital certificate is attached along with e-mail or electronic message in order to provide security and authentication. When we communicate via electronic media, it becomes important that the information is shared between the parties it is meant for and cannot be accessed by any other third party. For such a secure communication we need a digital certificate, which ensures reliable communication.

• Online Banking: The internet has indeed made our life easier; instead of going to the bank for every single work, we can simply log in to the bank’s site and check our banking, make transactions, transfer money, etc. Customers prefer the digital certificate issued by reputed CAs when we are dealing with the financial transition. These certificates ensure the user or customer a higher level of trust concerning the integrity of data, an additional level of protection and a higher level of security for data being shared or any financial transaction made.

•  E-commerce: Most of the people in today’s world shop online due to their hectic lifestyle, but they always look for secure and reliable websites to shop as information provided by the customer is sensitive and can be misused. To create a safe and secure environment for customers to shop, a website owner needs an SSL certificate.

• Prevent Online Threats: To safeguard your data, which you provide at the time of login or when you sign-in, Certification Authority (CA) issues a public key, which monitors the receiver and sender in such a way that your information cannot be stolen by any other third party. The information shared can contain your address, birth date, locality, license, etc.

If you need more information regarding Digital Certificate. Give us a call on +1 (888) 606-7330. We will also help you to provide Comodo SSL Certificate for domain and sub-domain to secure your online business website.

A Quick Overview Of Certificate Authority Authorisation (CAA)

What Is CAA
CAA is a security effort or in more simpler language, it is a standard that is intended to fundamentally ensure websites and help in preventing unapproved SSL certificate. Certificate Authorities (CAs) is an amazing entity whose activity is to ensure that each and every SSL certificate is approved by using different methods of domain validation. It is typically done by connecting the specific SSL certificate with a specific site utilizing a specific domain. In any case, the CA should be recorded as an approved backer of the certificate. As CAA indicates which CAs are real and are permitted to issue an authentication for a domain, it helps in averting or minimizing chances of hacking or misusing SSL certificate.

How to Create CAA Record
In order to create a CAA record, DNS (Domain Name System) provider has to be contacted. List of CAs that you prefer should be provided so that unauthorized CAs can not issue SSL Certificates to your domain. If you did not provide with your preferred list of CAs, it automatically gives the right to every single CA to issue an SSL certificate to your domain, which can result in misuse of your domain by any other party.

Need for CAA
As benefits of Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) are clear, the next thing that hits our minds is “Do I need CAA?”. The answer is very clear…YES, we very much need CAA. As we know CAA records are used to check the authenticity of CAs i.e. which CA is authorized to issue SSL certificate as well as it provides an immense amount of security from hackers. It also gives rights to the domain owner to exclude a particular CA. CA can’t issue any Comodo SSL certificate without authentication. In other words, we can say that CAA can bring down the risk of issuing the SSL certificates by unauthorized Certificate Authorities (CAs).

For any domain, CA can issue a certificate and with an increase in HTTPS, there is an increase in SSL certificates. To put control over this, a powerful approach was required. An approach that could not only decrease the risk but put a stop on miss-issuance of SSL certificates. CAA is designed to stop unauthorized issuance of SSL certificates.

Benefits of CAA

• It helps in preventing illegal or unauthorized issuance of Comodo SSL certificate.
• The organization is also helped by limiting the CAs they use.
• The site owners are also benefited as they can now specify which Certificate Authorities (CAs) have the authority to issue an SSL certificate to their domain name.
• All the CAs have to check for the authenticity before issuing an SSL certificate.

If you need more information regarding this or you need help in getting a Digital certificate for your website security, we are just a call away. Give us a call on our toll-free number +1 (888) 606-7330 or write us on info@thesslstreet.com, our team of experts will be happy to assist you.