SSL certificate
An SSL certificate is a digital document that confirms the authenticity of a website and encrypts visitor data. The main purpose of an SSL certificate is to ensure the safety of your site’s visitors.
How sites with SSL certificates work
- The visitor goes to the website in a browser.
- The browser checks the SSL certificate of the site.
a) If all is well, the browser and the site establish a secure connection. Now, any data, such as passwords, that the visitor sends or receives will be encrypted.
b) If the browser concludes that the SSL certificate is untrustworthy, the user will see a warning message and may decide not to visit the site.
What if the site has no SSL certificate
A site without an SSL certificate will work, but users will have to put in extra effort to access it. Sites without SSL are also ranked lower in search results.
The principle of encryption in SSL Certificates
When you watch a video on YouTube, upload a photo to Facebook or open Instagram, or enter any information on a website (name, phone number, bank details), your browser and the server exchange data.
This data is encrypted using a pair of unique digital keys: a public and a private one. The first is visible to everyone but the second is only visible to the site’s owner. The SSL certificate confirms that the keys belong to a particular site. Moreover, the data is encrypted in such a way that even if it is intercepted, without the right key, fraudsters will only see an incomprehensible set of symbols rather than the data actually entered on the site (e.g., the visitor’s password).