WHAT IS A SSL CERTIFICATE?
Before we get started, SSL stands for Secure Socket(s) Layer. The purpose of an SSL certificate is to:

• Provide you with non-forgeable proof of the identity of the website you are connecting to
   

• Ensure the data exchanged between your browser and the site you are connecting to cannot be read, deciphered or decrypted by a third party that may be tapping in to the data exchange between your Browser and the remote server

WHO NEEDS A SSL CERTIFICATE AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE?
Any website that stores "sensitive" information like Credit Card numbers, personal information about other people (like names and addresses, Identity Numbers, Passwords etc) or sensitive company information, should only acquire the data from the individual via a secure connection. Not only is a secure connection important to protect you (the website owner) from fraud, but it is essential to protect your customers and staff from fraud as well.

Why is it important?

Firstly, when you enter data (including passwords, credit card numbers) over a non-secure internet connection, the data is transmitted from your PC to the destination server in plain text. The fact that your browser shows a bunch of '******' for the password is simply what it shows you. Your password is still being transmitted as plain text!

So what does it matter?

Any data transmitted over the internet as plain text can be intercepted. It's as simple as that. A person with malicious intentions simply has to listen on the right ports or look in the right places to read exactly what you entered. If that data happened to be your password or your credit card number ... well, you can guess what happens after that.

BEWARE - "phony" certificates!!!
As stated below, the primary purpose of an SSL certificate is to identify you. There are many companies (especially web hosts) offering "free ssl" as a carrot to attract unsuspecting customers. Before you think that this is great! and the best thing since sliced bread, think again. Most are not "real". Here's how it works:

What a lot of hosts do is to purchase a wild card sub-domain SSL certificate. This allows them to make an infinite number of sub-domains like https://yoursite.the_other_guys_site.com type A records. Notice that the SSL certificate is not owned by your_site but by the_other_guys_site (the last part before the .com is the actual domain. The part to the left of that is the sub-domain).

What this means is:

• 1. Anyone that knows just a little bit about SSL is unlikely to purchase a product from you online (I certainly wouldn't!) because there is no way of knowing that you are who you say you are because the SSL data refers to the_other_guys_site and NOT your_site.
   

• Thing like page rank are now been given away by you to the_other_guys_site.

Bottom line is if you want SSL on your website make sure it's an SSL certificate registered to your_site.com and only only that. If you are thinking of signing up with some company because of a free SSL certificate, ask the following two questions:

1. Will my site be on a dedicated IP address?

2. Will the certificate be issued to me (my domain) or will it be a sub-domain of of some other domain?

If they do not provide you with a dedicated IP address and a dedicated certificate, stay away.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SSL CERTIFICATES
A common misconception is that SSL certificate's main purpose is to protect the transaction between buyer and seller. This is not the main purpose of a certificate.

The main purpose of a certificate is to establish the identity of your website through a trusted third party (the issuer of the certificate). In other words, when I go to www.Your-Site.com as your potentially paying customer, I need to see that the certificate on www.Your-Site.com was, in fact, issued by a trusted third party to www.Your-Site.com. The "trusted third party" who signed the certificate, is my guarantee that I am on your site and not some other site.

MONEY QUESTIONS - WHAT DOES IT ALL COST?
Because the vast majority of SSL certificates are used for business purposes, there are costs involved. (We mention that because we can generate a self-signed certificate in 10 seconds and it doesn't cost a cent. Self signed certificates are just as secure and "real" ones and work just as well any day of the week but give an authentication warning in the browser which must be accepted before continuing). Here are the costs:

• The Certificate need to be bought somewhere. You can pay up to $900.00 for a certificate from places like Thawte, Verisign, GeoTrust etc or you can get one through us for under $200.00 a year. It's up to you.
   

• We charge $200.00 to generate the CSR (Certificate signing request), get the dedicated IP for you, Install the certificate on your site and generally to hold you hand through the entire process. (From experience we know this is pretty reasonable because most folk need a lot of hand holding in the beginning).
   

• Recurring fee of $200.00 per year (automatically included on a recurring basis when you order) for the dedicated IP address required for your website by the SSL certificate

GENERATING a CSR (Certificate Signing Request)
Follow these steps exactly and you won't go wrong. (Please note, this process has to followed to the letter or you will have problems).

STEP1: Buy your certificate

You can buy  it from us, for under $200.00 per year or from anywhere else. Just make sure it is not a chained certificate. Some companies sell "cheap" certificates that aren't worth anything. You can, of course, go to Verisign and get the same thing for $350.00
 

STEP 2: Contact us to generate the CSR see link below (Our Customers only)

You will need to provide us with the following information:
NOTE: This is an exact science. The information you provide must be 100% accurate or your certificate will not work.

STEP 3: Enter the CSR at the place where you purchased the certificate.

After you enter the CSR, the company where you purchased your certificate will usually require you prove your identity. In most cases they will require you to either call them or fax them with the information they require. Simply follow their instructions.

Once you have jumped through all the hoops and complied with the screening process they will contact you to tell you your certificate is ready.

You now need to send us the entire certificate so that we can

• Reserve an IP address for you. (We need the certificate to justify the IP address).

• Install the certificate on your site for you.

LASTLY - PLEASE READ
Everything described above has to do with getting the SSL setup on your website. Prices quoted above DO NOT include installing Shopping carts on your site or to making them work. That is for you to do. If you want us to do this for you, please see our services rate sheet for more information and pricing.