SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is a security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client. A client could be a web browser or a mail client and a server could be a web server or a mail server. As a user SSL is used by millions of businesses and individual users around the world to decrease the risk of sensitive information from being stolen. SSL allows a “Private Conversation” between two intended parties

To establish a secure connection, the browser and the server need an SSL certificate, sometimes also called a digital certificate. This certificate is installed on the webserver and serves two functions:

1. Authenticating the identity of the website meaning, it guarantees the visitor that the website is not fake.
2. Encrypting the data which is being transmitted.

The Importance of an SSL certificate.

• Nowadays everything has gone online. Businesses are making more money by being virtual. Internet is the biggest platform for social media, shopping, knowledge sharing and many more. It has taken a boom since the smartphone has hit the market. Everybody wants to be on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatnot. The banking transactions are also now happening online. There is thousands shopping website to shop from. But and it’s a big but do you trust each one of them to shop? Do you feel safe when you open any random website for shopping or do you feel safe for doing any banking transaction? Where is this trust factor coming from? How are you so sure that you won’t be getting robbed?

• The very first factor is security. What kind of security has been provided by online businesses such that your data won’t be stolen? Another is popularity. When any business does become popular? From his customer/users right. And how it gets popular? Again by the services provided by it. Take an example of shopping from amazon.com and shopping from any unknown website you have never heard of. What will you choose? Today every firm spends a hell lot of money on security. Nobody wants their sensitive information to be stolen.
• SSL certificate is a step towards security. When SSL is installed on the server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol allows the secure connections from the webserver to the browser. When you install the certificate the application protocol know as HTTP will change to HTTPs where ‘S’ stands for ‘Security’. So when you visit the website you see a padlock or a green https in the address bar.

.

An SSL certificate is a technology that encrypts information traveling from a website’s server to a visitors browser and vice versa. Nowadays, it isn’t unusual for people to choose to manage their finances or keep sensitive information saved on their computer. The heightened popularity of sending this type of information through emails, online forms, and online purchases has set in motion the need for a higher level of cybersecurity. As a business owner, the best way to protect the data of your website’s visitors is by purchasing an SSL certificate.

It adds security to your website.

First and foremost, the greatest importance of an SSL certificate is that it protects the information transmitted to and from your computer. It does this by encrypting the information. In other words,  it turns it into a code that hackers can’t read it. The result is that all information provided through online signup forms, logins, addresses, and payments is private.

It provides a sense of security to users.

Most search engines now mark websites without an SSL certificate as not secure.

At first, online users may not have noticed the difference between secure and not secure websites. The cosmetic difference was only a small tweak; an ‘s’ was added to the URL of each secure page. This changed the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) found in a URL to HTTPs (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure).  However, Google and search engines alike rapidly informed users through added imagery to address bars. Now users know that an icon of a lock in their address bar signifies a secure site.