A certificate serves as an encrypted layer between your website and your visitor’s browser, ensuring that all communication between them remains private and secure by preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. However, you may still wonder what this actually means, and why you even need a certificate at all. Here’s everything you need to know about SSL certificates in layman’s terms.
What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate is a security measure that encrypts the data on your website. An SSL certificate works by using industry-standard public key encryption to scramble the information you input into your browser before it is sent over the internet. This scrambling makes it impossible for any third party to read the information that you are sending, meaning that they can't steal your password or credit card number. What's more, an SSL certificate also ensures that no one else can impersonate your website by displaying a fake URL in their browser. If you try to visit the website without having an SSL certificate installed, the page will display This site can't be reached. If you have an SSL certificate installed, then visitors will see This site uses a valid security certificate.
How does an SSL certificate work?
An SSL certificate is a file that digitally binds a cryptographic key to an organization’s details. It enables encryption of the data in transit between two computers, or a browser and an application such as email, chat, or banking. SSL certificates are trusted by browsers because they provide proof that the organization has been verified as legitimate by a third-party certificate authority. This verification process ensures that the public key belongs to the owner of the domain name and has not been tampered with. Therefore, when you see HTTPS:// in your browser’s address bar you can be sure that your data is securely encrypted while being transmitted to the website server. When the data reaches the server it will be decrypted using the private key and only visible to the person accessing it on this computer.
The benefits of using an SSL certificate
An SSL certificate is an important tool that enables secure data transmission over the internet. SSL certificates digitally bind a cryptographic key to the organization's details and provide authentication of a website's identity. When you see HTTPS:// in the address bar, it means that communication between your browser and the web server is encrypted. This prevents eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery. These types of attacks are all too common on public Wi-Fi networks, which is why it's important to use an SSL certificate to protect sensitive information like credit card numbers, login credentials for online banking or other financial services websites, social security numbers, and more.
An SSL certificate can be installed on servers either from a trusted source or through self-signing; both methods will work equally well.
How to get an SSL certificate
We need enough information to get the SSL certificate, we recommend that you use the help of experts to do this so that you can choose the best available option with the best financial cost by receiving advice and guidance. This gives us the opportunity to avoid spending more money and get enough information.
We hope this article was useful for you and your business
Source: https://goldendecision.wordpress.com/2022/11/28/ssl-certificate-basics/