The Common Types of SSL Certificates You Should Know About

 

As digitization impacted the whole world, it transformed the way businesses are done. In this digital world, organizations now depend on the internet and advanced technologies to make their business successful. That’s where the importance of a business website comes into play. With an efficient business website, organizations are able to enhance their brand awareness online and reach out to more target customers. Similarly, there are many benefits that a digital world has to offer to your business. However, there are certain factors that can compromise your business operations like the security of your valuable data or information. With that being said, information is a crucial part of any organization and the protection of that data is a necessity. Besides, with the increase in cybercrimes, it has become a hard job. But, with an SSL certificate, your issues can be minimized. Most importantly, to get an SSL certificate for your website, you could approach any of the best SSL certificate providers in India. With their assistance, your data remains secure and intact.

In a nutshell, an SSL certificate is referred to Secure Socket Layer Certificate which is generally a digital certificate that functions as a security protocol to build a connection between the web server and browser. There are several benefits that an SSL certificate could offer to your business. You could establish customer trust with the help of the encryption features and threat detection associated with your website’s SSL certificate. Besides, it would help secure your business identity by protecting valuable data from all kinds of cyberattacks. Now, there are different types of SSL certificates available that you could choose according to your business demands. Let’s have a look.

Based on the validation level, SSL certificates are categorised into three:

1. Extended Validation (EV SSL) Certificates

Being the industry standard for business websites, the EV SSL certificate requires certain verification processes before setting up. The Certificate Authority (CA) performs some background checks on the organization and its right to own a specific domain address. Most importantly, this highest level of SSL certificate activates or turns the browser web address bar fully or partially to green. Besides, there will be a padlock symbol along with the organization name adjacent to the web address. It is the most expensive SSL certificate in the category of validation level. However, with an EV SSL, you could establish a level of trust with your target customers. Additionally, they are commonly used by high profile websites and usually get issued within a week.

2. Organization Validation (OV SSL) Certificates

For setting up an Organization Validation certificate, the organization have to undergo some intensive background checks and verification processes. With that being said, the Certificate Authority carefully examines the right of the organization to own the specific domain name by contacting them and making sure it’s authenticated. Additionally, an OV SSL certified website will have a padlock alongside the ‘https’ prefix. Besides, your organization information like name, address and country will be displayed to your users when clicked on the padlock symbol. Used for public-facing websites, OV SSL is ideal for eCommerce sites.

3. Domain Validation (DV SSL) Certificates

Domain Validation certification is generally the lowest level of validation and only requires proof of control over a domain by an organization which is usually completed in a few minutes. In this case, the Certificate Authority will not check the information regarding the identity of the individual or organization owning the website. DV SSL also offers the trust indicator padlock symbol in the address bar along with the ‘https’ prefix to the domain name. However, while clicking on the symbol, the organizational information remains limited. Most importantly, a DV SSL certificate is cost-effective and issued immediately. Besides, it is an ideal option for small websites and blogs.

Now, based on the number of domains, the SSL certificates are classified into:

1. Single-Domain SSL Certificates

As the name suggests, a Single-Domain SSL certificate is applicable to only one domain. However, all the pages within that domain name would be encrypted. For instance, if you have a domain name ‘www.mydomain.com' with a Single-Domain SSL certificate, it will not protect ‘mail.mydomain.com’ or any other subdomains. Most importantly, the Single-Domain SSL certificate is available in all EV, OV and DV levels.

2. Multi-Domain SSL Certificates

A single Multi-Domain SSL certificate can generally protect or secure almost 100 domain names and their subdomains. With this effective solution, your organization would not have to keep track of individual certificates for each domain while running multiple websites. Besides, a Multi-Domain SSL certificate can help save money and is also available in DV, OV, and EV validation options.

3. Wildcard SSL Certificates

With a Wildcard SSL certificate, you could secure your main domain and the unlimited subdomains associated with it. Besides, it is available in DV and OV validation options with full encryption for all subdomains and hence becomes an effective solution for any website. Most importantly, you could save valuable time and money since you don’t have to buy individual SSL certificates for your subdomains.

Conclusion

In short, you have a wide range of SSL certificate options to choose from. However, make sure to select appropriately while keeping in mind your organization and its goals. Like everything, each SSL certificate has its own pros and cons and thus choose wisely after analyzing every fact. Additionally, whichever hosting you choose, make sure your provider offers all the services you need. For instance, if you need a reseller hosting service, select from the best reseller hosting provider in India offering SSL features which could benefit your business.