{"id":42,"date":"2019-07-09T07:35:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T07:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/?p=42"},"modified":"2022-06-01T13:49:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T13:49:35","slug":"what-is-an-ssl-certificate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an SSL certificate?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a data security tool that was designed to keep communication over the internet safe. Data sent via an SSL connection is protected by a mechanism called encryption that scrambles the data in transit to prevent theft and tampering.&nbsp;<\/span>All SSL provide same encryption, however mechanisms of obtaining a certificate varies by type a.k.a validation type.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimate Guide to SSL Certificates with infographics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/what-is-an-ssl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Difference between types<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/validation-type\/domain-only\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Domain validation SSL (DV)<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nDV SSL&nbsp;are considered to be of low assurance and are the easiest to get\u2014all you need to confirm is that you own the domain you apply for the SSL with. This validation method is secure enough, however if someone obtains control over a domain they don\u2019t own, (i.e. email access, ftp access or DNS access), SSL could be issued to a wrong person. Great for personal user, facebook app or login page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/validation-type\/extended-validation\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Extended validation SSL (EV)<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nEV SSL are the most hacker-proof certs in the industry thus are considered as the most trusted. For you to obtain EV, company&#8217;s legal existence, operation history and physical existence must be confirmed. All these verified details are displayed in the certificate details in the address bar in browsers to indicate your business name and existence legitimacy. These kinds of certs are impossible to fake, that\u2019s why they get \u201cvery high assurance\u201d grade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/validation-type\/organization-validation\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Organization validation SSL (OV)<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nOV SSL also require organization legal existence confirmation, however organization validation process requires less steps, i.e. it doesn\u2019t matter how long a company operates, certificate authority doesn\u2019t verify the person who applies for OV on behalf of a company, neither legal address is verified via public sources. The details of a verified company are shown in the certificate details.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What to choose?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OV and EV are recommended for business, DV \u2014 for individuals. EV and OV SSL certificates are especially recommended for ecommerce sites as building confidence among customers and forming a trustworthy reputation around the site and brand is essential for such type of business.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Go all-HTTPS<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/website-security-becomes-important-google\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">google rewards all-HTTPS sites<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> increasing their search engine ranking?In&nbsp;August 2014, Google announced that the ranking position of a website can be increased by using an SSL certificate. Not to mention encrypted connection <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/safetycenter\/everyone\/start\/safe-networks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">protects privacy on the internet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a data security tool that was designed to keep communication over the internet safe. Data sent via an SSL connection is protected by a mechanism called encryption that scrambles the data in transit to prevent theft and tampering.&nbsp;All SSL provide same encryption, however mechanisms of obtaining a certificate varies ..<\/p>\n<div class=\"clear-fix\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\" title=\"read more...\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-questions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is an SSL certificate? \u2013 HelpDesk | SSLs.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is an SSL certificate? \u2013 HelpDesk | SSLs.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a data security tool that was designed to keep communication over the internet safe. Data sent via an SSL connection is protected by a mechanism called encryption that scrambles the data in transit to prevent theft and tampering.&nbsp;All SSL provide same encryption, however mechanisms of obtaining a certificate varies ..Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SSL Certificate Knowledgebase | SSLs.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SSLsCom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-09T07:35:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-01T13:49:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sslbizdev\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SSLscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SSLscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sslbizdev\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"sslbizdev\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/#\/schema\/person\/7e29a188929740c7a59d9a1c15c18806\"},\"headline\":\"What is an SSL certificate?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-09T07:35:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-01T13:49:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"General Questions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/knowledgebase\/what-is-an-ssl-certificate\/\",\"name\":\"What is an SSL certificate? 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