 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
- What is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)?
- What is a SSL Certificate?
- How do I design my web pages to work with the shared SSL certificate?
- How do I use a dedicated SSL service?
- How do I use the shared SSL certificate?
1. What is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)?
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a standard security protocol for establishing encrypted links between a web server and a browser in an online communication.
The usage of SSL technology ensures that all data transmitted between the web server and browser remains encrypted.
2. What is a SSL Certificate?
A SSL certificate is necessary to create a SSL connection. You would need to provide details about the identity of your website and your company as and when you choose to activate SSL on your web server.
An SSL certificate contains the following information:
- The domain name for which the certificate was issued.
- The owner of the certificate and the domain name.
- The physical location of the owner.
- The validity dates of the certificate.
When you connect to a secure web server such as https://www.mickwood.com , the server authenticates itself to the web browser by presenting a digital certificate. The certificate is proof that an independent trusted third party has verified that the website belongs to the company it claims to belong to. A valid certificate gives customers confidence that they are sending personal information securely, and to the right place.
SSL certificates can provide you with non-forgeable proof of your website's identity, and customer confidence in the integrity and security of your online business. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of SSL security and will often not purchase online from non-secure stores. All major web merchants use SSL security to encourage customers to buy online.
3. How do I design my web pages to work with the shared SSL certificate?
When you use the shared SSL certificate through the secure URL in the HTML code of your web pages, you need to reference all files, images and other objects RELATIVELY, not absolutely, like this:
img src=images/img.gif
and NOT like: img src=/images/img.gif
and NOT like: img src=http://www.yoursite.com/images/img.gif
and NOT like: img src=https://servername.websitesecured.com/~username/images/img.gif
If you write HTML that links to all objects on each page relatively as suggested here, then all links will always work correctly, regardless of whether you are at:
https://servername.websitesecured.com/~username/
or are at:
http://www.yoursite.com/
Controlling when to Turn SSL on and Off for Visitors
The way that you control which pages will be encrypted with SSL is by providing the visitor an explicit secure link to click on, written absolutely (not relatively), like so:
a href=https://servername.websitesecured.com/~username/secure.html
or
form action=https://servername.websitesecured.com/~username/processor.cgi method=POST
When you want to turn SSL encryption off, provide them an absolute (not relative) insecure link to click on, like so:
a href=http://www.yoursite.com/file.html
4. How do I use a dedicated SSL service?
A dedicated SSL service makes it so that all traffic can be made secure, by simply adding a "s" after "http" in a URL.
For example:
Secure(Dedicated SSL) - https://www.hostgo.com
Non-Secure(No SSL) - http://www.hostgo.com
A SSL certificate from a SSL authority, is required in order to run dedicated SSL service on your web site. The cost of SSL certificates varies massively so make sure you research before buying one.
Below is a small list of SSL authorities where you can purchase a SSL certificate:
If you would like to run a dedicated SSL service on your web site please email Mick Wood
5. How do I use the shared SSL certificate?
Shared SSL service allows you to run SSL on your web site, without having to purchase your own SSL certificate.
The shared SSL service makes it so that all traffic to the secure URL:
https://servername.websitesecured.com/~username/
leads to the same place as the nonsecure URL:
http://www.yoursite.com/
NOTE: In the shared SSL URL, make sure to replace "servername" with the name of the server your web site is hosted on, and "username" with the username of your web site. You can find the name of your server, at the bottom of the front page of your control panel.
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