SSL certificates and types for securing your websites and applications
- by Mit Naik
Need to share few information regarding SSL certificates and there types, which SSL certificates are widely used etc.
There are several SSL certificates available in the market today inorder to secure your domains, multiple subdomains, your applications and code too. Few of the details are mentioned below.
CheapSSL certificates available today are Standard Rapidssl certificate, Thwate SSL 123 etc certificates which are basic level certificates. Most of these cheap SSL certificates are domain-validated only and don't provide the greatest trust for your customers. This means you shouldn't use cheap SSL certificates on e-commerce stores or other public-facing sites that require people to trust the site.
EV certificates I found Geotrust Truebusinessid with EV certificate which is one of the cheapest certificate available in market today, you can also find Thwate, Versign EV version of certificates. Its designed to prevent phishing attacks better than normal SSL certificates. What makes an EV Certificate so special? An SSL Certificate Provider has to do some extensive validation to give you one including: Verifying that your organization is legally registered and active, Verifying the address and phone number of your organization, Verifying that your organization has exclusive right to use the domain specified in the EV Certificate, Verifying that the person ordering the certificate has been authorized by the organization, Verifying that your organization is not on any government blacklists.
SSL WILDCARD CERTIFICATES, SSL Wildcard Certificates are big money-savers. An SSL Wildcard Certificate allows you to secure an unlimited number of first-level sub-domains on a single domain name. For example, if you need to secure the following websites:
* www.yourdomain.com
* secure.yourdomain.com
* product.yourdomain.com
* info.yourdomain.com
* download.yourdomain.com
* anything.yourdomain.com
and all of these websites are hosted on the multiple server box, you can purchase and install one Wildcard certificate issued to *.yourdomain.com to secure all these sites.
SAN CERTIFICATES, are interesting certificates and are helpfull if you want to secure multiple domains by generating single CSR and can install the same certificate on your additional sites without generating new CSRs for all the additional domains.
CODE SIGNING CERTIFICATES, A code signing certificate is a file containing a digital signature that can be used to sign executables and scripts in order to verify your identity and ensure that your code has not been tampered with since it was signed. This helps your users to determine whether your software can be trusted. Scroll to the chart below to compare cheap code signing certificates.
A code signing certificate allows you to sign code using a private and public key system similar to how an SSL certificate secures a website. When you request a code signing certificate, a public/private key pair is generated. The certificate authority will then issue a code signing certificate that contains the public key. A certificate for code signing needs to be signed by a trusted certificate authority so that the operating system knows that your identity has been validated. You could still use the code signing certificate to sign and distribute malicious software but you will be held legally accountable for it.
You can sign many different types of code. The most common types include Windows applications such as .exe, .cab, .dll, .ocx, and .xpi files (using an Authenticode certificate), Apple applications (using an Apple code signing certificate), Microsoft Office VBA objects and macros (using a VBA code signing certificate), .jar files (using a Java code signing certificate), .air or .airi files (using an Adobe AIR certificate), and Windows Vista drivers and other kernel-mode software (using a Vista code certificate). In reality, a code signing certificate can sign almost all types of code as long as you convert the certificate to the correct format first.
Also I found the below URL which provides you good suggestion regarding purchasing best SSL certificates for securing your site, as per the Financial institution, Bank, Hosting providers, ISP, Retail Merchants etc.
Please vote and provide comments or any additional suggestions regarding SSL certificates.
