What is an SSL certificate and how does it work?

When a user visits your site, a connection is established between his or her browser and the server of your website. Imagine that the connection is not encrypted, and at the same time the user sends his or her data to your server, e.g. making a payment via credit card. At this point, a moderately skilled hacker can capture such data, use it, redirect it to another place, etc.

An SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) is, therefore, a network protocol that provides security encryption of data sent from your user (his or her browser) to your page (for example, your e-commerce server).

How does an SSL certificate make your website secure?

SSL protocol uses an AES key (for example 256-bit) to encrypt the data. Such an algorithm is unbreakable. This means that if you have an SSL certificate implemented on your site, the data of your users is completely secure and it is not possible that they will be intercepted by third parties.

How can your users know if they are on the secure website? They can check this easily by the appearance of the URL bar of your page:

• The website address will be preceded by a secure HTTPS protocol (instead of an unprotected HTTP protocol).

• The HTTPS protocol may also be accompanied by a padlock icon (on the left side of the address bar).

• SSL certificates with the highest degree of protection are also revealed by marking the entire address bar in green.

What do the Google and GDPR have to do with SSL certificate?

Google announced that in July 2018 it will start flagging the pages lacking SSL certificates as Not Secure. This notification will appear even before the user decides to visit your site, so it can affect the loss of trust in your site and, as a result, a drop in traffic. The SSL certificate will soon become a Google’s ranking factor that will influence the positioning of websites in search results. Safe sites will be appreciated by high positions, while sites without HTTPS will fall into further positions.

Do you think that there is still a lot of time until July? Nothing more wrong. In May 2018, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. It imposes an obligation to secure the pages with an SSL certificate to the owners of the websites that collect and/or process personal data of their users. Failure to comply with these legal norms may lead to financial sanctions.

How much does an SSL certificate cost and how to get it?

There is no single answer to this question. The cost of an SSL certificate varies from a few to several hundred dollars per year, and there are also free solutions on the market (even in the form of WordPress plugins). The price of the certificate is the result of its type, add-ons, the degree of protection, etc.

You can get the certificate from your hosting provider or from so-called Reputable Certification Authorities. Many hosting providers offer an automated process of certificate implementation through the server administration panel. But, sometimes the installation can also prove more problematic. In such situations, it is worth:

• reaching for the installation instructions attached to the certificate,

• contacting the support of the institution that issued the certificate.

It also happens that the hosting provider offers an SSL certificate installation service. In this case, call the helpline and ask the administrator for implementation.

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