General Security, Internet - Sunday, July 6, 2008 7:30 - 0 Comments

What is a Secure SSL certificate?

what is an SSL certificate and how does work with my web browser

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption was originally developed by Netscape to promote web commerce.  In the mid-1990’s, as more and more companies realized they had products that could be sold efficiently over the internet, problems began to arise from hackers and scams that attempted to impersonate legitimate companies.  What would happen is that information passing between one computer and a web server could be intercepted, and valuable information could be acquired, such as credit card information.

SSL security uses prime number encryption methods, and a key pair.  Once the server’s identity has been confirmed by the use of a certificate, that server sends an encryption key to the user.  When the user then carries out a transaction, all data is encrypted using the key, and the server is able to translate the data using it’s own private key.  This prevents the data from being intercepted, and protects personal information, important data, and even allows remote access to corporate networks.

It is this encryption method that makes it possible for companies like eBay to handle countless amounts of sensitive information without fear of people’s credit card information being stolen, or products being misdirected to third party sources.  It also allows an employee using a laptop to exchange vital but sensitive information with the company network while traveling.  Certificates identifying a corporation are made dependable through third party Certificate authorization sites, which verify the information in the certificate is accurate and hasn’t been forged or altered.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com