SSL Certificates

What is SSL?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) provides a secure connection allowing you to transmit private data online. Used by every browser and web server, SSL encryption allows maximum security and reliability. Processors that provide online transactions especially credit card payment transactions need to protect sensitive data from internet fraud.

In order to be able to use the SSL protocol, a web server requires the use of an SSL certificate. These SSL secure pages are accessed using the 'https' prefix. They also tend to display a security lock icon in the browser's status bar and possibly a green address bar if secured by an EV SSL certificate.

SSL Processing - how it works?

When a browser points to a secured domain, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) handshake occurs. Both sides have a public key and a private key. Information encrypted with a public key can only be decrypted with it's corresponding private key and vice versa. Both the server (Web Site) and the client (Web Brower) publicly tell the world what their public key is but keep their private keys a secret.

Now that both sides can encrypt information that only the other side can decrypt, the web server generates a new set of new keys that are exchanged and later used by the client and server for simultaneous negotiations. After this process a secure tunnel is created and private transmissions begin.