An important consideration is how secure your website is with your visitors’ information. Your website can be relatively safe without SSL, but it is definitely not secure for transactions of any sensitive data without an SSL Certificate.

This secure layer encrypts the data between a computer and a website. A customer will access your website with a secure https://www.domain.com. When the customers’ web browser notices that a website has an SSL certificate, the website hands an SSL certificate to the browser, the browser then examines the certificate to make sure that the customer knows they are on your website.  Once the certificate is accepted by the web browser a session key is generated to encrypt all actions between the customer and the site. Next the web browser will encrypt the session key with a public SSL key from the website. Most browsers will then display a lock indicating that all transmissions between the customer and the website are secure. When a secure session is formed the customer and the website are the only ones with the ability to interpret the data that is passed back and forth. This all happens in a matter of seconds and is not an inconvenience to the customer because they now know your site is safe and secure.

An SSL Certificate is of utmost importance if you want to make an e-commerce website. Customers will want to know that their credit card information is not being hijacked before it even reaches your storefront. Having a storefront without an SSL certificate could be comparable to having a house without a lock. If a lot of money and secure information is passing through your website there is a good chance you may want and your customers may request to secure your website with an SSL Certificate that has a high encryption level.  

Encryption levels are based on need for security. The oldest convention is 40-bit encryption which is not secure in today’s standards. Most average home computers these days can, with the right software and expertise, decrypt a 40-bit encryption in less than a day. This is the reason why 128-bits are the recommended encryption level.  In terms of decryption 128-bit is a trillion by a trillion times stronger than 40-bit. This means even a very modern home computer will take a lifetime to crack this encryption. All reputable SSL Encryption providers should offer 128-bit encryption for their certificates. Customers need watch, however, that they are not using an outdated browser without support for this high level encryption. Also, older operating systems such as Windows 2000 only allow 40-bit encryption.   Some companies now even offer 256-bit encryption which should be future-proof for this lifetime. However, 128-bit encryption would be the most cost effective solution in the today’s computing environment especially with insurance that comes with your certificate.

 What levels of Insurance come with SSL Certificates?

SSL certificates come with warranties ranging from $10,000-$250,000. The exact amount of insurance is dependent upon the nature of the certificate. Certificates that allow a minimum of 40-bit and max of 256-bit come with less of a warranty than certificates with a minimum of 128-bit and maximum of 256-bit encryption. This warranty is to protect websites with SSL against loss or damage due to a defect when being issued a certificate, a certificate having a defect, or negligence of contractual obligations between certificate issuer and customer.