SSL Certificate is used to keep the site secure and the fee just went up to $99.99 a year. Due 11/14/2023 UPDATE: PAID
What is SSL?
SSL, more commonly called TLS, is a protocol for encrypting Internet traffic and verifying server identity. Any website with an HTTPS web address uses SSL/TLS.
How do SSL certificates work?
SSL certificates include the following information in a single data file:
- The domain name that the certificate was issued for
- Which person, organization, or device it was issued to
- Which certificate authority issued it
- The certificate authority's digital signature
- Associated subdomains
- Issue date of the certificate
- The expiration date of the certificate
- The public key (the private key is kept secret)
The public and private keys used for SSL are essentially long strings of characters used for encrypting and signing data. Data encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted with the private key.
The certificate is hosted on a website's origin server and is sent to any devices that request to load the website. Most browsers enable users to view the SSL certificate: in Chrome, this can be done by clicking on the padlock icon on the left side of the URL bar.
Why do websites need an SSL certificate?
A website needs an SSL certificate in order to keep user data secure, verify ownership of the website, prevent attackers from creating a fake version of the site, and gain user trust.
Encryption: SSL/TLS encryption is possible because of the public-private key pairing that SSL certificates facilitate. Clients (such as web browsers) get the public key necessary to open a TLS connection from a server's SSL certificate.
Authentication: SSL certificates verify that a client is talking to the correct server that actually owns the domain. This helps prevent domain
spoofing and other kinds of attacks.
HTTPS: Most crucially for businesses, an SSL certificate is necessary for an HTTPS web address. HTTPS is the secure form of HTTP, and HTTPS websites are websites that have their traffic encrypted by SSL/TLS.
In addition to securing user data in transit, HTTPS makes sites more trustworthy from a user's perspective. Many users won't notice the difference between an http:// and an https:// web address, but most browsers
tag HTTP sites as "not secure" in noticeable ways, attempting to provide an incentive for switching to HTTPS and increasing security.
