What is a Digital Certificate and Why do I Need One?
What is a Digital Certificate and Why do I Need One
?
To do business on the Internet one of the first things you will need is a digital certificate. A digital certificate is also known as a "secure socket layer server certificate", or SSL certificate. A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is acryptographic protocol that providessecruity for communications over networks such as the Internet. SSLs encrypt the segment of network connection at the Application Layer to ensure secure end-to-end transmission at the Transport Layer. When an SSL connection is established, the client and server negotiate an exchange in the client hello and server hello messages, which specifies a combination of cryptographic algorithms to be used for the connection.
You need a digital certificate installed on your Web server so you can take credit card orders in a secure manner. A digital certificate is going to secure financial and personal information. No one but you, the customer, and the bank will have this information as it is transmitted over the Internet. Having a digital certificate will ensure the customer that their information is secure.
You should be able to get a digital certificate through your Web hosting service. You can expect to pay between$80 and $300 dollars annually to get the SSL certificate. Your SSL certificate should be one of the first things you get to do business on the Internet. There are some low-cost alternatives if you don't want to purchase an SSL certificate. If your Web hosting service allows it, you can purchase your own certificate and load it on the Web Hosting server. You can go with Just Add Commerce (JAC), a unique software service that has both an SSL and a shopping cart built into the software. JAC will work with Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver software.
To some it all up, an SSL certificate is a cryptographic protocol that allows you to share financial and personal information transmitted over the Internet in a secure manner. You need an SSL to process credit card and personal information.