Protect Your Customers’ Data with SSL Certificates

SSL Certificates Benefits: Everything You Need To Know [FULL GUIDE]

With an increase in online businesses, people adopt online shopping methods instead of traditional purchasing at brick and mortar stores. The prime driving factor is that it is easy to buy everything online with just one click. You can purchase each and everything online, and it will reach your doorstep.

Cybercriminals have been an undesirable part of things since the dawn of e-commerce business or the internet. As the online business is progressing day-to-day, there has been a notable increase in cybercrimes too. Hackers come up with new techniques to harm the customers/clients, and website owners. They are always in search of finding vulnerabilities of a site to launch their attacks.

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If the data transmission between the user and the webserver is not encrypted, attackers can quickly get the sensitive information shared between the two communicating parties. The invaders can exploit a site and get credit card details, passwords, usernames, etc., of the customers resulting in identity theft.

With these threats in mind, the website owners should do everything they can to prevent their customers from being victims of such scams. They should assure their users or clients that their data is safe and beyond the reach of hackers. To protect sensitive customer data, SSL certificates are used. Let us find out more about the SSL certificates and what they offer in protecting the customer's data on the internet.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL (an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer) is a security protocol that protects the data transmission between the user and the webserver through encryption. The SSL or TLS (Transport Layers Security) protocols are being used by almost every online business website to run their organization safely.

An SSL certificate provides security during the exchange of sensitive information (credit card details, username, passwords) over the internet. Also, it lowers the chances of data being stolen by scammers and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. For a site to have a secure connection, the SSL certificates are issued. These certificates are generated by the trusted third-parties, known as certification authorities (CAs).

The certification authorities do not generally directly provide the certificate to web site owners. Instead, they issue a certificate to intermediate certification authorities, also known as sub-certification authorities. These intermediate CAs, in turn, provide a certificate to the customers. This process is done to enhance the security of the system by dividing it into layers. So, even if a security breach occurs at a lower level of the certificate, the certificate's upper layers remain un-harmed.

Before getting an SSL certificate, you should keep in mind that you are buying an SSL certificate from a trusted root certification authority. A trusted root certification authority has more secure entries reserved in the root stores of all the major browsers.

Every time you proceed to visit a new web page, your browser is checking for the SSL certificate's validity by heading towards the root store. If the certificate issuing authority's name is listed in the root store, you visit a safe site (whose SSL certificate can be relied upon); otherwise, you should move on to the next site.

Here's the list of a few well-trusted SSL certificate providers to buy an SSL certificate for your website:

• * Comodo
  * RapidSSL
  * GeoTrust
  * Thawte
  * Digicert
  * GlobalSign

 

How SSL Certificate Works in Protecting Customers Data?

When you visit a site having an SSL certificate, the first thing that occurs between the browser and the server is an SSL handshake. In the SSL handshake's first step, the browser requests a secure HTTPS connection with the server. A session key is created by using the public key of the website. The session key is encrypted to keep it safe from man-in-the-middle attacks.

This session key is decrypted by using the private key of the web site. The session key is then used for data transmission between the server and the browser for the whole period. So, after establishing this secure connection, you can easily surf the site and can share personal information like credit card deets, passwords, usernames, etc., on the website without any hesitation.

The SSL certificate secures your data through encryption. So, even if a hacker can steal the information, he would not read it.

Benefits of SSL Certificate

The main advantages of SSL certificates are as follows:

1. Encryption

With an increase in the e-commerce business, there is a high demand for protecting sensitive information (banking details, passwords, usernames). An SSL certificate keeps the personal data of clients in encrypted form. The web server or the user can only decrypt this information. In this way, the customer data stays safe and beyond the reach of invaders and identity thieves.

2. Authentication

You need to know the website you are visiting is safe or not. An https secured website has a padlock icon on the left side of the browsers. When you land on a site, your browser checks for the website's authenticity by checking its SSL certificate.

If the SSL certificate issuing authority's name is listed in the browser's root store, it is a valid and trusted site. Otherwise, a non-secure alert will be shown on that site. This process is done in a few hundred milliseconds.

3. Boosts Search Engine Rankings

In 2014, Google declared that having an SSL certificate for a site is mandatory, which will increase the search engine rankings of that site. So, having an SSL certificate will help you rank higher on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages), which translates to free targeted organic traffic – this means more conversions and more money in your pocket.

4. Builds Trust Relationship with the Customers

With the increase in identity thefts, many people feel insecure while sharing their personal information on the websites. So, to build a trust relationship with your clients, you need to provide them a safe and secure platform where they can share their sensitive information without any reluctance. For this purpose, an SSL certificate comes forward to help you.

SSL certificates protect the sensitive information of the users and resources of the site. It encrypts the data being shared between two communicating parties.

As your target audience's trust is enhanced, they are more likely to keep coming back to your site and not only make more transactions with you, but also refer you to other potential customers with confidence.

Conclusion

More and more people are adopting online trade/shopping rather than traditional methods. You can buy everything you need with just one click on your computer/mobile while staying at home. But with the increase in online business, cybercrimes have also been rising. So, to keep your customers' personal data safe and secure, you should install an SSL certificate on your website.

This will increase the user's trust in your website, which will turn into more revenue and sales. The SSL certificates keep your website beyond the reach of hackers and man-in-the-middle attacks. A website having no SSL certificate is always at a risk of being attacked by the scammers.

Thus, if you run an online business, you should not compromise with your website and your customers' security. Seek guidance from the steps mentioned above to keep your site and client's data safe, and scale new heights of online success.

 

How To Report Suspicious Activity

You can officially do it to the Federal Trade Commission using this link: Report To The FTC Here

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Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other Amazon fraud-related articles right under this paragraph, so that you know how to stay safe online. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.

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