SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is a protocol developed by Netscape that enables a web browser and a web server to communicate securely; it allows the web browser to authenticate the web server. The SSL protocol requires the web server to have a digital certificate installed on it in order for an SSL connection to be made.

    When you walk into a store, you know who you are dealing with. You see the products, the branding and the store assistant. You can be sure that if something should be wrong with your purchase, you’ll have recourse to the store manager or owner. But on the Internet, website visitors generally have no reliable way of knowing who owns the website (the virtual store). When customers visit a website with the intent of making an online purchase, they want to know whom they’ll be paying. They want proof of the identity of the website owner, and they want to know that the personal information they send to the website cannot be intercepted by other Internet users. This is where SSL digital certificates come to the fore.

     Thanks to an SSL-enabled web server and a SSL certificate, a customer connecting to a secure website is assured of three things:

Authentication: The website really is owned by the company that
installed the certificate.

Message Privacy: Using a unique “session key”, SSL encrypts all
information exchanged between your web server and your customers,
such as credit card numbers and other personal data. This ensures
that personal information cannot be viewed if it is intercepted by
unauthorized parties.

Message Integrity: The data cannot be tampered with over the
Internet.