Secure server certificate details
A secure server certificate is a digital certificates which has two purposes:
- Authenticate a website address establishing a level of trust for the client.
- Allow encrypted communication for all information passed between the client and the website operator.
All our certificates use 128 bit SSL to encrypt client-server communication and protect your privacy. This is the strongest form of commercially available encryption for web (HTTP) pages. All certificates are issued by the certification authority GeoTrust. You can find information on browser and server support on this separate page. We recommend True BusinessID for the majority of our customers. The differences between all the products is highlighted below.
This product has the following features:
ChainedSSL utilizes an authentication method that is patent-pending technology created by GeoTrust. It incorporates the most advanced automated authentication system in the industry and can issue a certificate within hours of the time of order. ChainedSSL provides peace of mind for less than what customer's would pay for other SSL solutions, however it does not authenticate the organisation running the domain.
Note: We no longer sell these certificates since StarterSSL is a better product and is cheaper, however we will renew ChainedSSL certs issued to current customers.
This product has the following features:
StarterSSL utilizes an authentication method that is patent-pending technology created by GeoTrust. It incorporates the most advanced automated authentication system in the industry and can issue a certificate within hours of the time of order. StarterSSL provides peace of mind for less than what customer's would pay for other SSL solutions, however it does not authenticate the organisation running the domain. It replaces the ChainedSSL product since it is exactly the same as ChainedSSL, but uses a trusted root CA.
This product has the following features:
- 128 bit digital certificate.
- Certificate signed by a trusted root CA certificate.
- Certificate issued very quickly.
- Professional level SSL, with a recognized international brand and 99% browser recognition rate.
- Certificate authenticates the domain.
QuickSSL is the same as ChainedSSL.
This product has the following features:
- 128 bit digital certificate.
- Certificate issued very quickly.
- Certificate signed by a trusted root CA certificate.
- Certificate authenticates the domain.
- Comes with a dynamic site seal.
QuickSSL Premium is the same as QuickSSL with the addition of a security site seal with a dynamic date and time stamp. The seal conveys to your customers that you take online security seriously. This highly identifiable icon will appear on your website to reinforce that all personal and credit card account information can't be viewed, intercepted or altered. A sample seal follows:
This product has the following features:
- 128 bit digital certificate.
- Certificate signed by a trusted root CA certificate.
- Professional level SSL, with a recognized international brand and 99% browser recognition rate.
- Certificate authenticates the domain.
- Certificate authenticates the organisation.
- Comes with a dynamic true site seal identity link.
True BusinessID certificates authenticate the organisation as well as the domain, adding further legitimacy to your site. A True Site seal with a dynamic date and time stamp comes with this certificate. Online visitors can press the "click" icon on the True Site seal for a company profile and identity confirmation. In order to receive a True BusinessID, the business must provide proof of organisation. This assures the end-user that the organization claiming the secure transaction is actually who they say they are. A sample True Site seal follows:
This product has the following features:
- 128 bit digital certificate.
- Certificate signed by a trusted root CA certificate.
- Professional level SSL, with a recognized international brand and 99% browser recognition rate.
- Certificate authenticates the domain.
- Certificate authenticates the organisation.
- Comes with a dynamic true site seal identity link.
- Authenticates all subdomains of the main domain.
True BusinessID Wildcard is the same as a True BusinessID, but is for customers who need to secure multiple websites with the same domain name on a single server. Customers can add unlimited subdomains to the same server for no additional cost.
Terminology
A digital certificate is an electronic "identity card" that establishes your credentials when doing business over the internet or performing other forms of electronic transactions. The certificate is issued and signed by a certification authority (CA). It contains your common name (in the above case this is a domain name), possibly your organisation name and address, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holders public key and the digital signature of the CA. The public key is used to encrypt messages over the internet or sign electronic information on behalf of the common name. The digital signature of the CA is used to validate the authenticity of the certificate. Digital certificates can be kept in registries so that authenticating users can lookup other users public keys.
The SSL protocol is the web standard used for encrypting communications between entities over the internet. Data sent via an SSL connection is protected by strong encryption, preventing eavesdropping and tampering with any transmitted data. SSL provides businesses and consumers with the confidence that private data sent to a web site or over the internet, such as credit card numbers, are kept confidential. With the addition of digital certificates, SSL provides proof of the identity of one or both of the communicating parties.
A trusted root CA certificate is a certificate of a certification authority (CA) which is added to a browser by the browser vendor. It signifies that the browser vendor (such as Microsoft) trusts the CA and will hence establish a high level of trust with websites that use SSL certificates signed by this CA.
A chained root CA certificate is a certificate of a certification authority (CA) which is not present in a browser as opposed to a trusted root CA certificate. However, the chained certificate has been issued by a CA with a trusted root CA certificate. Since there is no direct relationship between the browser vendor and the chained root CA a lower level of trust is established. Furthermore authenticating sites with certificates signed by a chained root CA is more complex and requires more information to be exchanged between the server and the client.
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