WEBS4SUCCESS.COM: Do You Really Need an SSL Certificate?

Webs4Success

Do You Really Need an SSL Certificate?

Global Net Source is pleased to offer a limited time sale on our Standard SSL Certificate provided by StarfieldTechnologies. From September 15th - October 31st, 2009, our Standard SSL Certificate is only $19.99 per year!
We hope this article will provide you valuable information for your business.

Recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce show that online retail is continuing its rapid growth. However, malicious phishing and pharming schemes and fear of inadequate online security cause online retailers to lose out on business as potential customers balk at doing business online, worrying that sensitive data will be abused or compromised.

For e-businesses, the key is to build trust: Running a successful online business requires that your customers trust that your business effectively protects their sensitive information from intrusion and tampering.

Installing an SSL Certificate from Global Net Source and Starfield Technologies on your e-commerce Web site allows you to secure your online business and build customer confidence by securing all online transactions with up to 256-bit encryption. An SSL Certificate on your business’ Web site will ensure that sensitive data is kept safe from prying eyes. With a Starfield Technologies SSL Certificate, customers can trust your site.

Before issuing a certificate, Starfield Technologies rigorously authenticates the requester’s domain control and, in the case of High Assurance SSL Certificates, the identity and, if applicable, the business records of the certificate-requesting entity. The authentication process ensures that customers and business partners can rest assured that a Web site protected with a Starfield Technologies certificate can be trusted. The SSL Certificate provides the security your business needs and the protection your customers deserve. With an SSL Certificate, customers will know that your site is secure.

In the rapidly expanding world of electronic commerce, security is paramount. Despite booming Internet sales, widespread consumer fear that Internet shopping is not secure still keeps millions of potential shoppers from buying online. Only if your customers trust that their credit card numbers and personal information will be kept safe from tampering can you run a successful online business. For online retailers, securing their shopping sites is paramount. If consumers perceive that their credit card information might be compromised online, they are unlikely to do their shopping on the Internet. An SSL Certificate provides an easy, cost-effective and secure means to protect customer information and build trust.

An SSL Certificate enables Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption of your business’ online transactions, allowing you to build an impenetrable fortress around your customers’ credit card information.

What is an SSL certificate?
An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a Web site to visiting browsers and encrypts information for the server via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. A certificate serves as an electronic “passport” that establishes an online entity’s credentials when doing business on the Web. When an Internet user attempts to send confidential information to a Web server, the user’s browser will access the server’s digital certificate and establish a secure connection.

Information contained in the certificate includes:

The certificate holder’s name (individual or company)*

The certificate’s serial number and expiration date
Copy of the certificate holder’s public key
The digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority

To obtain an SSL certificate, one must generate and submit a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) to a trusted Certification Authority, such as Starfield Technologies, which will authenticate the requester’s identity, existence and domain registration ownership before issuing a certificate.

*High Assurance Certificates only. Turbo SSL Certificates only contain the domain name and no information on the individual or company that purchased the certificate.

An SSL Certificate secures safe, easy and convenient Internet shopping. Once an Internet user enters a secure area — by entering credit card information, e-mail address or other personal data, for example — the shopping site’s SSL certificate enables the browser and Web server to build a secure, encrypted connection. The SSL “handshake” process, which establishes the secure session, takes place discreetly behind the scenes, ensuring an uninterrupted shopping experience for the consumer. A “padlock” icon in the browser’s status bar and the “https://” prefix in the URL are the only visible indications of a secure session in progress. By contrast, if a user attempts to submit personal information to an unsecured Web site (i.e., a site that is not protected with a valid SSL certificate), the browser’s built-in security mechanism will trigger a warning to the user, reminding him/her that the site is not secure and that sensitive data might be intercepted by third parties. Faced with such a warning, most Internet users likely will look elsewhere to make a purchase.

Phishing and, recently, pharming pose constant threats to Internet users whose sensitive information is under siege by crackers and other cyber crooks. An SSL certificate from Starfield Technologies can clip the wings of Internet criminals and help prevent Internet users from being victimized by phishing and pharming schemes when attempting to visit your Web site.

Phishing schemes – attempts to steal and exploit sensitive personal information – typically try to trick victims into accessing fraudulent sites that pose as legitimate, trusted entities, such as online businesses and banks. Because perpetrators of such attacks will be using and registering domains that resemble those of the spoofed sites, Starfield Technologies, through its stringent fraud-prevention measures, will detect the schemes and deny certificate requests for suspicious domains.

More sophisticated than phishing, pharming revolves around the concept of hijacking an Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) domain name server (DNS) entries. When a “pharmer” succeeds in such DNS “poisoning” every computer using that ISP for Internet access is directed to the wrong site when the user types in a URL (e.g., www.ebay.com). SSL certificate technology can help prevent pharming attacks, as well. In essence, a “pharmer” simply will not be able to obtain an SSL certificate from Starfield Technologies, as he/she does not control the domain for which the certificate is requested. By protecting your Web site with a Starfield Technologies SSL certificate Internet users that attempt to access a site that poses as yours will be instantly alerted that there is a problem with the supposedly secure connection:

No lock icon: Because CAs usually won’t issue a certificate to fraudulent phishing or pharming sites, such sites usually do not use SSL encryption. Internet users, therefore, are alerted by the absence of a padlock icon in their browser’s status bar.

Name mismatch error: A pharming site could try to use a certificate issued by a CA for a domain owned by the attacker, but the user’s browser will warn the user that the visited URL does not match the certificate presented by the fake Web server.

Untrusted CA: A pharming site might attempt to use a certificate issued by an untrusted CA. In this case, the user’s browser will generate the following warning: “the security certificate was issued by a company you have not chosen to trust.” The alert Internet user will instantly abandon his/her activities/ transactions when presented with such warnings. Thus, a Starfield Technologies SSL certificate provides business owners and wary, savvy Internet users with an effective weapon against phishing, pharming and similar cyber swindles.

Demand for reliable online security is increasing. Despite booming online sales many consumers continue to believe that shopping online is less safe than doing so at old-fashioned brick-and-mortar stores. The key to establishing a successful online business is to build customer trust. Only when potential customers trust that their credit card information and personal data is safe with your business, will they consider making purchases on the Internet.

A Starfield Technologies SSL Certificate provides a convenient, costeffective and reliable means to secure your business’s online transactions. Once installed on your business’ Web site the certificate will safeguard sensitive data by securing online transactions with up to 256-bit SSL encryption. With a Starfield Technologies SSL Certificate your customers will know that they can trust your business. Applying a Starfield Technologies SSL Certificate to your online business today will secure your online sales.