As one of the Philippines' premier web hosting providers, we have come across clients who skeptically ask why they would need SSL. This is a valid question and an important one that needs to be explained and understood.
What is SSL: SSL is one of the immediate solutions to secure your website, server, email, FTP, and any similar services alike. It is the backbone of a secure internet and protects your sensitive information as it travels across cyberspace. It keeps frauds from directly acquiring your and your client's private information.
The Benefits of SSL: SSL's primary function is to encrypt sensitive information that will travel across the internet. Things like, credit cards, username, email, passwords, and other sensitive information are encrypted and becomes unreadable to prevent criminals from reading your data. Without SSL it's like passing a piece of paper with your password or credit card numbers written on it to people. SSL protects these data from hackers and identity thieves.
SSL authentication, in addition to encryption, a proper SSL certificate also provides authentication. This means you can be sure that you are sending information to the right server and not to a bogus server. This is important because of the nature of the internet and people often send information through several computers any of these computers can act as your website and trick you or your users into sending them their sensitive information. It is only possible to avoid these fraudulent acts by using a properly set up Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and SSL Certificate from a trusted SSL provider.
Promotes Trust: SSL promotes trust to gain your client's confidence. Most web browsers now give a visual cue if your website is using SSL. Recently google started giving a ranking boost to websites with SSL, so this is becoming the norm. The green bar or padlock icon in the address bar indicates your website is verified and trusted. This means that your clients will most likely trust or buy from your website when they see the green bar or padlock. Additionally, an SSL certificate also gives a trust seal logo that you can use to instill more trust in your customers.
Website Security: SSL is part of PCI compliance, It is also important to let your clients know that you take security seriously on your website. If you are going PCI compliance SSL is also a part of this to pass certain audits which require a proper SSL certificate.
Protects from Phishing: SSL protects from phishing websites. A phishing email is an email sent by a criminal who tries to impersonate your website. The email usually includes a link to their website or uses a man-in-the-middle attack to use your domain name. Because it is very difficult for these frauds to receive a proper SSL certificate, they won’t be able to perfectly impersonate your site. This means that your users will be far less likely to fall for a phishing attack because they will be looking for the trust indicators in their browser, such as a green address bar, and they won’t see it.
If you are interested in adding SSL to your website or server, please head up to our SSL page at https://my.websafehouse.com/index.php?rp=/store/ssl-certificates for pricing or contact us via our helpdesk for further explanation.
