Ensuring the security and privacy of your E-commerce customers doing business with you online is essential to establishing customer confidence and trust. That confidence and trust is established through securing communication between your customer's Web browser and your site, generally by way of an SSL Certificate. 

What is an SSL Certificate?
A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate creates an encrypted link between your Web site and a customer’s Web browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the Web site and the browser remains private and secure. The Certificate also demonstrates to your visitors that your Web site is owned by a legitimate business. Finally, the SSL Certificate puts the "s" in "https" in the Web site address (URL), and puts the closed padlock on the browser — items most consumers look for when transacting business online. You can install an SSL Certificate yourself or one can be provided to you by a Certificate Authority (CA), your Web hosting provider or a third-party transaction-processing company.  Network Solutions is one of the leading providers of SSL Certificates. 

There’s More Than One SSL Certification
Online businesses may currently choose between three types of SSL Certificates: Organizationally Validated (OV) Certificates, Domain Validated (DV) Certificates and Extended Validation Certificates (EV).  All SSL Certificates include data encryption and trigger the browser to display a closed padlock and the "https" prefix in the browser address window. However, not all provide the same level of validation that the bearer of the SSL Certificate is truly a legitimate business.

Organizationally Validated (OV) Certificates: This level of SSL security validation, currently offered by Network Solutions and other certificate authorities (CAs), assures the validity of a Web site by verifying that the applicant is a legitimate business. Before issuing the certificate, the CA performs a rigorous validation procedure, including checking the applicant's business credentials (such as the Articles of Incorporation) and verifying the accuracy of its physical and Web addresses. An Organizationally Validated Certificate is an excellent choice for any business conducting online transactions and accepting sensitive data, such as personal information or credit-card numbers, from customers.

Domain Validated (DV) Certificates: Domain Validated Certificates have a less rigorous validation procedure than OV or EV Certificates. The less rigorous procedure includes the CA checking only that the applicant's name and contact information matches the registration information in the WHOIS database for the domain name associated with the SSL Certificate. CAs are not required to validate the legitimacy of the applicant's business so Domain Validated Certificates provide a lower level of authentication than do other types of SSL Certificates.

Extended Validation (EV) Certificates:  The newest level of Certificate validation is available from Network Solutions®. Introduced in early 2007, Extended Validation Certificates are the first SSL Certificates to adhere to industry-wide certification guidelines established by leading Web browser vendors and Certificate Authorities, including Network Solutions. The Certificate application process itself is more thorough and the validation criteria more rigorous for EV certification.  Among the new features of EV Certificates is the color-coding of the Web browser's address bar to signal secure connections. The browser navigation bar turns green to indicate an authentically validated site with an EV Certificate, full security, and encryption in place.

Why does my business need an SSL Certificate?
The encryption provided by SSL Certificates helps to prevent hackers from stealing private and confidential information sent via the Internet. A Web site secured with an SSL Certificate provides a safe place for customers to enter sensitive data such as credit card information, bank account numbers, etc. If you transact business on your Web site, you need an SSL Certificate!