An informative site about SSL certificates as well as other related topics. There are details on SSL certificates, SSL, Verisign, digital certificates, Geotrust SSL, SSL VPN, secure server hosting and whole lot more.

If you use the World Wide Web or have a web site or even a web server you will at some time come across the term SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or SSL certificates.

A Secure Sockets Layer protocol is mainly used when ever you have to perform a credit or debit card transaction over the internet. SSL is implemented to encrypt and secure the traffic between two entities (browser - server / mail clients).

How to tell
On most browsers you will see an icon in the lower right corner of the browser window that looks like a key or padlock, when this is visible it means you've got an SSL session in progress with the site you are visiting.

Another sign for SSL certificates is when you have 'HTTPS' being the first part of text visible in the browsers address bar.

How does the SSL protocol work?
A simplified version of the SSL process is explained below:

• The server passes a certificate to the browser.
• The browser validates it by verifying the digital signature and ensuring that the name on the SSL certificates is the right one, the certificate has not expired, it was issued by a trusted party, and so forth.
• The browser generates data needed for the creation of cryptographic key material, encrypts it using the public key on the server's certificate, and sends it to the server.
• The browser and server generate keys and encrypt all session traffic from that point forward.