SSL Certificate Management

An SSL certificate has two specific functions:

• Data Encryption: The primary role of an SSL certificate is to enable encryption between two sources. This means that any information communicated between the sources cannot be read by anyone other than the intended recipient.
• Authentication and Verification: SSL certificates have information about the authenticity of certain details regarding the identity of a person, business or website. This information is displayed in your browser when visitors click on a browser’s padlock symbol or trust mark (e.g., the Norton™ Secured Seal).

Most important to SSL certificates are their digital signatures, which are provided by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), such as DigiCert, GeoTrust or Thawte. Anyone can create a certificate, but browsers only trust certificates that come from an organization on their list of trusted CAs. Browsers come with a pre-installed list of trusted CAs, known as the Trusted Root CA store. In order to get added to the Trusted Root CA store and thus become a Certificate Authority, a company must comply with and be audited against security and authentication standards established by browsers.

An SSL Certificate issued by a CA to an organization and its domain/website verifies that a trusted third party has authenticated that organization’s identity. When a browser trusts a CA, the browser trusts that organization’s identity too, and that browser lets a user know that the content is secure. The result is a safer browsing experience for your users, especially when it comes time for them to trust your business with confidential information.