Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic Internet protocol that provides a secure connection (an
encrypted link) between a web server and a browser. This secure link ensures that all data transfered from the
browser to the web server, and vice versa, is integral and private.

Before transmitting the information via SSL secured page, it is coded with a unique key and after the
information is received, the same key is used to decode the data. SSL is a standard security technology used
by millions of web sites on the Internet. URLs that are secured with an SSL certificate start with https,
instead of the common http.

The main application for SSL certificates is securing pages that obtain sensitive data from the site
visitors - payment details, personal information, etc.

IMPORTANT: Each SSL certificate requires a separate dedicated IP address in order to be successfully
installed.

Site visitors will know that a certain page is SSL secured by the lock indicator of their browser.

The SSL certificate contains information about the domain name, the company/personal name, the address
(including the city, the state and the country) of the company or person it is issued for as well as the
expiration date of the Certificate and information for the Certification Authority that has issued the
Certificate. When a connection to a secure site is established the browser retrieves the site's SSL
Certificate and checks if it is expired, if it has been issued by a trusted Certification Authority, and if it
is being used by the website it has been issued for. A warning will be dispayed by the browser if any of the
checks fail and it will inform the site visitor that the page is not secured by SSL.

This Article was submitted by Duty Free Hosting - If you found it useful, please consider them as your host