It’s hard to overstate the threats posed to the safety of internet users’ data. Globally, 2022 saw a 38% rise in cyber attacks compared to the previous year, while data at risk includes:
- Personal names
- Passwords
- Payment card numbers
- Social security numbers
Unfortunately, in order to leverage certain websites to the best effect, you may have no practical option but to share such data with them. Here are some types of websites that can be particularly data-hungry:
- Online stores
- Social media websites
- Banking websites
Unsurprisingly, these sites can be favorite targets of hackers keen to unearth customer data they would be able to exploit through scamming attempts. Some of this information can even end up being sold on the dark web.
These possibilities are all very disconcerting, so what can webmasters do to bolster their websites’ security and clearly indicate that they have done so? One option could be to implement what is called an SSL certificate.
What Does 'SSL Certificate' Mean?
The acronym SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a standard security technology aimed at encrypting online communications between a website and its visitors.
More to the point, SSL is used for preventing cyber criminals from reading any of the data exchanged over the online connection between the website’s server and the browser software accessing the website.
This basically means that the website visitor will be able to enter personal and sensitive information into the site while taking comfort from knowing that this SSL protection is in place.
This all inevitably begs the question: what is a certificate in SSL? This digital certificate is used by a webmaster to enact SSL for their website. An SSL certificate contains the following details:
- The certificate holder’s name
- The certificate’s serial number
- The certificate’s expiration date
Also included is a digital signature from the authority responsible for issuing the SSL certificate to the website owner.
After confirming that the SSL certificate is from a trusted authority, the web browser can report back to the user that the website is indeed the real deal, rather than some unscrupulous group passing itself off as that site.
What is an SSL Certificates Provider?
Website owners can purchase SSL certificates — or even get hold of them for free — from what are known as certificate authorities (CAs).
However, what is a security certificate authority’s exact role here? It is basically to issue SSL certificates that web browsers will detect as valid.
Web browsers from major brands like Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera recognize SSL certificates from CAs such as:
- DigiCert
- IdenTrust
- GlobalSign
- Let’s Encrypt
This is because, before issuing a certificate, the CA will verify the website owner’s identity. The web browser will not establish a secure connection to the website before establishing that its SSL certificate is valid.
What does an SSL certificate do if it is not from a recognized CA? When coming across this ‘self-signed’ SSL certificate, the browser is likely to respond by warning the user accordingly.
Signs of an SSL-Protected Website
How can you tell if a website has an SSL certificate? For a start, it will be possible for you to see ‘https’ rather than ‘http’ in the browser’s URL bar. The ‘s’ tagged onto the end of ‘http’ in the former instance means ‘secure’.
Otherwise, though, what exactly you should look for can depend on the web browser. At the left-hand side of its address field, you may see a padlock icon. This can be green, but either way, would indicate an SSL certificate’s presence.
Where you were supposed to see that padlock, you might instead spot an exclamation mark or ‘Unsecure’ label. Whichever of these you do see, perhaps you will be able to click on it to bring up more details about the site’s security?
It bears emphasis here that, no matter how many positive indicators you pick up on about that security, you should resist treating it as bulletproof or watertight.
In essence, however safe you are when using the website will depend very much on your own behavior. For this reason, whether or not the site does have an SSL certificate, you should tread with caution.
How a VPN Can Add to Your Online Security
Despite the availability of SSL certificates, hopping from one website — or even just one webpage — to another can be surprisingly perilous from a security point of view.
It doesn’t help that some websites may only have SSL encryption on select webpages, or some webmasters could forgo SSL certification altogether out of a belief that their particular websites simply don’t need it.
However, anyone can be a victim of a cyber-attack. This is why it would be good practice for you to investigate how to further strengthen your online security even for those occasions when you use only SSL-certified sites.
One thing you could do is get into the habit of accessing the internet via a VPN. A VPN (virtual private network) will apply an extra layer of encryption to further hide your browsing activities from third parties like:
- Cyber criminals
- Governments
- Your ISP (internet service provider)
Keep in mind that many free-of-charge VPN services can come bundled with filler content that has the potential to harm your PC. You can have much more faith in a paid solution like our own ioloVPN product.
We have built ioloVPN with the user’s safety at the forefront. With this service, you can connect your computer to a secure VPN server so that third parties are prevented from seeing where you go online.
They will also be unable to see what data you submit or receive on the internet. This privacy can prove worthwhile for when you are eager to, say, register an online account on or download digital files from a website.
We offer ioloVPN for users of Windows and Android platforms — and invite you to take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee provided with this software. Why not call us on (808) 649-5509 for further details?
