What Is An SSL Certificate?

If you’ve recently launched a new website to sell your products or services or for other purposes, you have probably addressed the key functional aspects like device compatibility and design. But there is one critical aspect you might be overlooking—an SSL certificate. Without this certificate, your website will be flagged as “not secure,” discouraging potential customers from accessing your platform. Essentially, this certificate verifies your website’s identity and facilitates encrypted connections to protect your platform from cyberattacks.

To keep your crucial website data secure and establish your platform as a secure and trustworthy online environment, it is important to understand what an SSL certificate is and why it matters.

What is SSL?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a security protocol that generates an encrypted connection between a website’s server and a browser. This certificate enables websites to use HTTPS, a more secure extension of the HTTP protocol. In simple terms, SSL maintains the security of the internet connection and prevents hackers from accessing or changing information transmitted between two systems. An SSL certificate is typically represented by an icon resembling a padlock next to the URL in the address bar, indicating that your platform is safe.

How Do SSL Certificates Work?

This digital certificate ensures that data shared between users and websites (or between two systems) is encrypted. The data here typically includes personal information such as addresses, names, credit card numbers, or bank details. SSL handshake is a process through which this encrypted data is made unreadable during transit, protecting it from malicious entities who may be monitoring the connection. Understanding how an SSL handshake works is the first step to safeguarding your sensitive data online.

• A browser tries to establish a link to a website secured with SSL.
• The browser asks the website’s server to identify itself.
• In response, the web server shares a copy of its SSL certificate with the browser.
• The browser determines if it finds the SSL certificate reliable.
• If approved, the browser or server conveys the information to the web server.
• Next, the web server returns a digitally signed acknowledgment to begin an SSL-encrypted session.
• The encrypted information is now shared between the browser and the website’s server.

Types of SSL Certificates

Before you get an SSL certificate, know that there are three main types, each with different validation levels.

• Extended Validation certificates (EV SSL)
• Organization Validated certificates (OV SSL)
• Domain Validated certificates (DV SSL)

Besides these, there are certificates that support different domains.

• Wildcard SSL certificates
• Single Domain certificate
• Multi-Domain SSL certificate
• Unified Communications certificate

How to Get an SSL Certificate

If you are a new website owner and confused about how to get an SSL certificate, understand that the process is fairly straightforward. You can get an SSL certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA)—an organization that issues millions of SSL certificates annually and plays a critical role in securing internet communications. The CA ensures that online interactions remain transparent and responsible. With proper planning and execution and following the right strategies, you can secure your website with an SSL certificate.

• First, set up your server and ensure the WHOIS data is updated and matches what you submit to the Certificate Authority. It must have accurate details, including the company name and address.
• Create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on your website’s server. Your hosting company can help with this.
• Submit the request to the Certificate Authority to validate your domain and company information.
• Once this process is completed, install the certificate issued by the CA.

If you are hosting the website locally, it is important to configure the SSL certificate on your web host or your own servers.

Read more about: Best Web Hosting

What is the Validity Period for the SSL Certificate?

Similar to your passport or driving license, the SSL certificate will expire at one point. According to the Certificate Authority, the SSL certificate validity period is 398 days, or about 13 months. Besides ensuring your website’s security, maintaining compliance with industry standards, and keeping your data up-to-date, several factors may prompt you to obtain a new SSL certificate for your website.

• Information needs to be re-validated periodically to maintain accuracy.
• The internet and website hosts constantly change. So, the information relevant to SSL certificates also needs to be updated.
• The goal of the validity period is to confirm that the information used to authenticate servers and organizations is relevant and precise.

How to Check if an SSL Certificate is Valid?

Besides learning how to get an HTTPS (SSL) certificate, you should also frequently check its validity to ensure your website’s safety and user trust. It takes two simple steps to do this.

• Check if the URL of your website begins with HTTPS. The letter “S” indicates it has an SSL certificate.
• Select the padlock symbol on the address bar (just before the website’s URL) to check all the detailed information linked to this certificate. Remember that this icon may differ based on the browser you use.

FAQs

1) How do you know if a website has an SSL certificate?

There are two ways that you can quickly identify if your website has an SSL certificate. If the website’s URL starts with HTTPS, it’s secure. You can look for additional details about the certificate by clicking the icon near the URL.

2) Do I need an SSL certificate?

Yes, your website needs an SSL certificate, especially if it handles users’ personal data or sensitive information. The SSL certificate secures communication between a website and a visitor’s browser, ensuring that any data such as credit card information, login details, or personal data that is sent, remains safe.

3) How to check SSL certificate expiration date?

Depending on the browser used, the steps to confirm the expiration date of an SSL certificate may vary. But here’s a general, step-by-step guide:

• Navigate to the website.
• In the address bar, click on a padlock-like icon, usually located on the left of the URL bar.
• Click on “Connection is secure” from the dropdown list and tap on the option “Certificate is valid.”
• Review the information window that opens.
• In the “Validity Period” section, take a look at the “Expires On” date to know when your SSL Certificate will expire.

4) What happens when an SSL certificate expires?

An expired SSL certificate can disrupt secure connections. If this happens, your website will be vulnerable to outages and cyberattacks. More importantly, it may break the trust users have in your platform. So, remember to renew the certification periodically or automate the renewal process.