If you need an SSL certificate to protect your website or some other business-critical application such as email or storage systems, then you need to remember your ABCDs.
A is for the Appropriate certificate
There are a few different types of SSL certificate out there for different applications. For example, there are Unified Communications Certs (UCC) and code signing certificates. But the most common type is designed to secure a website, authenticate it and encrypt the traffic between the site and the user.
Within this group there are SSL Wildcard certificates that are ideal if you want to protect multiple subdomains of the same address, for example if you had multiple sites for different languages such as uk.company.com and us.company.com.
For other certificates, you have a choice of Extended Validation certificates which give site visitors visible reassurance about the provenance of the site and regular certificates. Within the Symantec SSL portfolio, there are different levels of encryption, different types of the encryption algorithm and security but they all include daily website malware scanning and Symantec Seal-in-Search.
More information about Symantec SSL certificates.
B is for Best support
Before you buy a certificate, it’s important to check that you’ll get the support you need. Sometimes, even the most proficient IT managers needs help with a particularly complex certificate problem. With Symantec, you’ve got multi language 24/7/365 support on tap.
C is for Certificate Authority
Not all SSL is the same because not all CAs are the same. Founded as VeriSign in 1995, we support the world’s largest and most critical certificate deployments. Our validation services process on average over four and a half billion hits per day – with zero downtime in more than ten years. This is why 97 of the world’s 100 largest financial institutions and 75 percent of the 500 biggest e-commerce sites in North America use SSL Certificates from Symantec.
D is for Documentation
Before you request a certificate, especially an Extended Validation (EV) certificate, it helps to have all your documentation ready. You’ll need to authenticate your organisation, prove you have authority to request a certificate, authenticate your domain and, in some cases, verify the organisation with additional documentation.
The more you know the better prepared you can be to enrol and install your certificate. Read on to find out how SSL and using the Norton Secured Seal on your site can help you succeed online.
For SSL download our interactive SSL resource, ‘SSL Explained’ now.