{"id":100626,"date":"2016-06-27T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bluehost.com\/blog\/small-business-use-ssl-certificates\/"},"modified":"2016-06-27T09:00:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:00:09","slug":"small-business-use-ssl-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluehost.com\/blog\/en-in\/small-business-use-ssl-certificates\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your Small Business Needs an SSL Certificate"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>The <\/span>Internet of Things<\/span><\/a> has changed the way businesses and consumers think about security. According to identity theft protection services provider <\/span>Lifelock<\/span><\/a>, research confirms that one in four people have experienced identity theft. When you build a website for your e-commerce site, you have to take rigorous steps to protect your company and the data that you collect from customers. <\/span>
\nDefending yourself against malicious code designed to damage your hardware or software and cyberthieves who are looking for data to sell on the black market is challenging. It’s hard to know where to start, but one thing every e-commerce business can do to protect their clients is to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is an SSL Certificate?<\/b><\/h4>\n

SSL is an electronic protocol that helps make communications over computer networks secure by ensuring that the content provided originates from a verified sender. In other words, when you interact with a favorite online retailer, like Amazon, or a payment processor, like PayPal, you can be confident that you are dealing with that company and not an impostor. <\/span>
\nDepending on the type of certification applied for, business owners have to go through various stages of vetting before they can install the certificate on company web pages and connect to a secure server on the web. <\/span><\/p>\n

How Can Consumers Tell if a Website is Certified?<\/b><\/h4>\n

The most common applications are for payment transactions, email, data transfer, and user logon protocol. Users want to know that data is encrypted in order to protect against unauthorized access. They also want to know when they visit a website, especially when making online purchases, that the company has carefully investigated third-party players.<\/span>
\nHere are some obvious signs that a page is using SSL certification.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. The <\/span>address bar<\/b> will have a green background color to indicate a higher level of security vetting, called Extended Validation. Some addresses include the name of the SSL authentication service (i<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>mage source<\/i><\/a>).\u00a0\"extended<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. A <\/span>tiny padlock<\/b> appears on the left-hand side of the browser bar. If there isn’t a padlock, or the symbol is \u201cbroken,\u201d visitors will know that the company isn’t using SSL. If you want to know more about the type of certificate attached to a webpage, click on the tiny lock and a pop up will appear that provides information about the company associated with the website. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. You’ll find an <\/span>SSL image<\/b>, typically at the bottom of the webpage. Custom images are available, but most contain a padlock, \u201cSSL\u201d or \u201cSecurity,\u201d and other information that indicates a certificate.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The URL starts with \u201c<\/span>https<\/b>\u201d to indicate that you are connected through a secure server. <\/span>Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http) is a system for transmitting data on the web, and<\/span> the \u201cs\u201d at the end is the security indicator. Http was the standard before <\/span>websites started transmitting confidential information (such as credit card data).<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Starting the Application Process<\/b><\/h4>\n

    Every certification authentication company operates a little differently and offers their own levels of enterprise certificates and value-added services. Most providers offer business owners standard and extended certifications along with tools designed for companies who need to manage multiple certificates or have special security challenges.\u00a0<\/span>Naturally, this process will also depend on your web hosting provider, such as Bluehost.
    \nFirst you need to vet potential Certification Authorities (CA). Read reviews or get recommendations from business colleagues. Talk to potential vendors about their experience and request verifiable references. Ask for client names so you can visit a few websites and check out the certificates yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n