How SSL Certificates Work to Keep Your Website Safe | Register.com

How SSL Certificates Work to Keep Your Website Safe

Website security is essential to conducting business online. That’s because today’s online customers know to look for a closed padlock and "https" in the URL. It tells them a website is safe. When an SSL Certificate is installed on your website, it delivers the protection your customers need and activates the visual cues to let them know they can trust your site.

So, What is SSL?

SSL or Secure Sockets Layer encrypts data so that it can securely move from your customer to your web server. It’s used to protect confidential data, such as personal details or credit card information.

What Happens After You Buy Your SSL Certificate?

When you buy a Register.com SSL Certificate you will need to provide information we will verify or validate.

The validation process makes sure SSL Certificates are sold to legally qualified entities. How it works depends on the SSL Certificate type:

  • Domain Validation (DV) Certificates - Xpress

    DV Certificates are issued after verifying the registration of the domain. This is done using an email-based validation process that checks information from the WHOIS database. DV Certificates are validated and issued within minutes.*

  • Organizational Validation (OV) Certificates - Basic, Advanced, and Wildcard

    OV Certificates are issued after verifying whether the business is legitimate. This is done by manually checking credentials such as a Dun & Bradstreet number, articles of incorporation, WHOIS, passport, driver's license, etc. Our Basic, Advanced and Wildcard Certificates fall under the Organizational Validation process.

  • Extended Validation (EV) Certificates

    EV Certificates provide a higher level of validation and are available only to business and government entities, not individuals. The process is more rigorous and detailed, and will require additional steps. These steps may include getting signatures from several people within the company or legally verifying the business exists.

    In addition to showing the padlock and HTTPS that say your site is safe, EV Certificates include a green browser address bar.


Once validation is complete, your SSL Certificate is issued electronically and is ready for installation on your website. If your site is hosted with Register.com, much of this installation process is automated for you.

SSL Encryption Secures Transactions in Four Steps:

Establishing a secure connection during a transaction takes just four steps:

  1. The browser checks the SSL Certificate to make sure it’s valid and the site you are connecting to is legitimate.
  2. Data encryption levels are established on the browser and website server based on how they understand each other.
  3. The browser and server send each other unique codes that encrypt the information.
  4. The browser and server talk to each other using that encryption. Then, the browser displays the encrypting icon to show the information is securely processed.

* After completion of verification process, and based on system availability
Please add only one Certificate per unique website