How To Choose Right SSL Certificate For Website?
SSL certificate acts as the backbone of a secure internet and protects sensitive information while it moves between the server and the browser. If your website does handle information as confidential as credit cards, then choose the right SSL certificate is essential to protect your website.
The main reason why SSL is put to use is for keeping the sensitive information that is sent over the internet encrypted to ensure that only the intended recipient can access it. If the data that you are sending is not encrypted using SSL, then anyone can steal sensitive information such as user names, password, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data. However, when you make use of SSL certificates, the data becomes unreadable for everyone except the intended person who you are sending data to. It protects your data from identity thieves and data theft.
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If you have decided to get an SSL certificate, it is time to look at all the choices and pick the one that is the right fit as per your security requirement for the website. Remember, all certificates are not created equal.
Budget
Generally speaking, what causes the difference in prices offered by different Certificate Authorities boils down to how thorough are the verification processes adopted by the SSL Certificate Authority. All SSL Certificate Authorities undertake various kinds of checks in terms of validation to make sure that your website is what you claim in the SSL application. Various certificate authorities offer certificates at their price. Small sized businesses will have a more modest budget compared to large organizations. Budget plays an essential part in deciding what kind of certificate you end up buying. Certificate authorities like Comodo offer SSL certificates that are well suited for small entrepreneurs and businesses by meeting the required security needs while keeping the price down.
Certificate Authority
A Certificate Authority (CA) is a third-party entity who is trusted by all. Before choosing SSL certificate, certificate authority is an essential part and check if they have same or similar product that would suit your business needs. Many CAs outthere like Comodo, RapidSSL, GeoTrust, Thawte, Symantec, GlobalSign, GoDaddy, etc. Different certificate authorities provide SSL certificate at their own decided prices.
Validation Types
There are main three types of validations, so as per website security requirement & validation user will have to decide with which validation will remain the best for the website:
- Domain Validation: This is the basic type of validation. In this type of validation, certificate authority verifies that the company has control on the domain. This validation can be done in a couple of minutes. Since there is no business documents involved, the cost of Domain Validation remains the least.
- Organization Validation: It is the second type of validation, which carries a medium level of verification naming Organization Validation. In this case, the CA will investigate the company what has made the application. They will get in touch with the company to ensure that it is authenticated. The Certificate Authority goes through a validation process where it validates the domain’s ownership along with other company information that has been made part of the certificate. Organization Validation takes a few days to go through the process. The cost here is a bit higher get since there is because of some business related proof involved. Company information is displayed as part of certificate details in this case.
- Extended Validation: This is the most rigorous level of validation. In this case, the CA undertakes validation of ownership, company information, legal existence, and physical location of the organization. It also conducts validation of the fact that the company is aware of an SSL certificate request been made before it approves the certificate request. The company documents are required to establish the identity of the company, along with many other checks like a third-party database. It can take a few weeks to get this through this kind of validation. This is the most expensive of all validation types. The address bar will turn green, and the company’s name will be displayed in the browser in this case. The price of Extended Validation remains the highest compared to other two validation types.
Number Of Domains
A number of domains that will be covered by the certificate are also a significant factor in deciding what kind of SSL certificate you need to get. If you are going to use the certificate for just one domain, then the Single Domain SSL certificate may be enough for you. However, if you want to secure your sub domains along with your primary domain, then you need to go for a Wildcard SSL certificate. A Multi-Domain or SAN SSL certificate will be required or if you are looking to cover more than one domain by the same certificate.
Where To Buy SSL certificate?
After looking into the above aspects, it is time to buy your SSL certificate that proves that your site is your own website and is verified by a reputed certificate authority. It is an established and verified identity for your website.
You can get certificate of popular certificate authorities like:
There are several providers of these certificate authorities who deal with same certificate and offer same level of encryption standard at cheap price by providing highest discount SSL coupon codes. Before buying SSL certificate, you need to look at after sales support, renewal benefits, reissue options etc. With an SSL certificate by your side, you can win the trust of your customers and instill confidence in them in a matter of minutes.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the above steps (certificate authority, budget, number of domains to secure, validation types) are required to consider before choosing a right SSL certificate; it looks like a one-time process that requires time and budget.
