An SSL certificate is a certified piece of code on a website that binds this encryption to the organization responsible for the website.

Simply put, SSL is a way to encrypt data that is sent from a web browser (like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome) to the web server. While it was primarily used in the past to protect sensitive information like credit card numbers and other data, these days it’s being adopted on a wider basis. In recent years, it’s become the norm for secure browsing of all sites, particularly social media.

Without SSL encryption, the traffic exchanged during any browsing session is vulnerable.

Each valid SSL certificate must be issued for every server and domain (website address). When you use your browser to open a website holding an SSL certificate, the SSL handshake occurs between your browser and the website server. The information request during this ‘greeting’ is then made visible to you in your browser window. You will find some changes that indicate a secure session has been initiated. A padlock, a trust mark, or the website name highlighted in green are all indicators that a secure link is established and secure communications can begin.

You can easily recognize a secure connection. You can identify whether a website is protected with SSL certificate just by looking at the URL. If the URL begins with ‘https://’, it’s to be understood that the website is secured with an SSL certificate. Standard web addresses begin with HTTP. In an SSL protected website, HTTP is replaced with HTTPs. The extra ‘s’ indicates that it’s a secure page.

There is an SSL available to cover a whole host of different requirements, there are some which offer higher levels of security to build consumer trust and others which cover more than one domain. The requirements for each type of SSL certificate vary, and they can range from free to cheap (DV SSL) to more expensive strictly business validation such as EV SSL Certificates.