Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate FAQs

Yes, if your business meets eligibility guidelines. If you have an nsProtect™ Secure Basic, Advanced or Wildcard SSL certificate from Network Solutions®, we are pleased to give you a substantial discount off of the purchase of an nsProtect™ Secure Extended Validation Certificate. To receive your discount, you must place your EV Certificate order with an Extended Validation SSL Certificate Consultant at 1-877-228-1023.

Wildcard customers should note that industry guidelines prohibit the issuance of Wildcard EV Certificates. To reap the benefits of an EV Certificate for their website, they may want to purchase an EV Certificate for their main domain and retain their current Wildcard Certificate to cover their sub-domains. If you have an SSL Certificate from a Certification Authority other than Network Solutions, you may still upgrade to an nsProtect™ Secure Extended Validation Certificate at a very competitive price. Please note that industry guidelines require all EV applicants, even those who already have SSL Certificates, to successfully complete the extended validation process before receiving an EV Certificate.

Certification Authorities (CA) are third-party verifiers that authorize and endorse the legitimacy of websites. Browsers inherently trust an SSL Certificate if it is current and is issued by a reputable CA since trusted CAs will only issue SSL Certificates to websites after validating the legitimacy of that site.

When running on the Microsoft Windows Vista™ platform, Internet Explorer® 7 (IE 7) automatically updates its store of EV Roots. Unfortunately this is not the case when IE 7 is running on Windows® XP. To address this, Network Solutions developed its EV Root Updater Code to automatically update your visitors' Web browsers to support your EV SSL Certificate. The EV Root Updater Code is a simple script that you can embed into the secure pages of your website. The EV Root Updater Code will transparently update the EV Roots stored in your visitors' IE 7 browsers on Windows® XP so their address bars will display as green for your website address.

The Certification Authority Browser Forum (CA/Browser Forum) is a voluntary organization of leading certification authorities (CAs) and vendors of Internet browser software and other applications.

Members of the CA/Browser Forum have worked closely together in defining the guidelines and means of implementation for the Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate standard as a way of providing a heightened security for Internet transactions and creating a more intuitive method of displaying secure sites to Internet users.

The CA/Browser Forum is the industry group that created the guidelines for EV SSL Certificates and those guidelines currently restrict EV Certificates to corporations, business entities (such as sole proprietors, general partnerships, unincorporated associations, etc.), and government entities. For those eligible, the application process for an EV Certificate is more thorough than existing procedures, requiring applicants to provide more detailed information about their businesses for final verification. The extended validation process is intended to enhance the authority of and consumer confidence in the Certificates, and to make it nearly impossible for fraudulent or criminal applicants to receive an EV Certificate.

When you apply for an EV Certificate you will be asked to provide certain types of information about your business or your client's business. This information may include:

• Dun & Bradstreet registration numbers
• Proof of physical address via database listings
• Opinion letter from legal counsel or certified accountant
• Other corporate, financial, and government documents such as Articles of Incorporation, bank accounts, and business licenses
• Government-issued photo IDs

The Certification Authority will review and verify the accuracy of these documents. It may also perform additional checks before issuing the EV SSL Certificate. If the applicant's credentials can't be verified in accordance with the CA/Browser Forum guidelines, then the Certification Authority will not issue the Certificate.

Extended validation is a newer protocol with more stringent requirements. At this time, the validation process is expected to take about 4 to 5 business days once the Certification Authority has received all required documentation.

No. Consumers will see a difference in the representation of the EV Certificate and secure connection (e.g., green address bar), but will experience no change or slowdown in operation or transaction procedures.