128-bit SSL Digital Certificates
Frequently Asked Questions
This section provides the answers to the most commonly asked questions
about our web certificates.
What is SSL?
Secure Sockets Layer, SSL, is the standard security technology for
creating an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This
link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser
remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is
used by millions of websites in the protection of their online transactions
with their customers. In order to be able to generate an SSL link,
a web server requires an SSL Certificate. InstantSSL is such a Certificate,
and when installed, can be used to create secure links to protect
transactions, passwords, personal details, etc.
What is an SSL Certificate?
A Web Server Certificate permits securer communication between a
client and a server (say a customer's browser and a web retailer's
server) or two servers (any servers who want to "talk"
securely amongst themselves). Simply stated, a web-certificate is
a digital document that has unique codes to identify the holder
of the certificate to the person accessing the site.
A Personal Certificate is issued to individuals to certify their
identity. One can use them to digitally sign email, documents, jar
files etc. to prove that they were the author, and that the files
have not been tampered with.
Century Web Design will be offering web certificates. Personal
Certificates may be offered at a later time along with other security
products.
How can someone tell whether a website is using a web certificate
or not?
The pages of a web-site which are secured by a web-certificate are
characterised by the following traits:
- The URL of the secure web-pages change from http://... to https://
- A lock symbol appears in the lower left-hand (right hand) status
bar in Netscape Navigator (Internet Explorer).
If one wants to view and verify the encryption information of the
secure pages, now should simply undertake the following:
- In Netscape - click on the lock symbol above and select "View
Certificate" button
- In Internet Explorer - double-click on the lock in the lower
right-hand status bar.
Will InstantSSL Certificates work correctly with my customer's
browsers?
In order for your customer's browser to seamlessly use an InstantSSL
Certificate, they must trust our 'Root Certificate'. Our Root (provided
by Baltimore Technologies) is trusted by over 99% of all
current browsers (see browser
compatibility details), comprising all Internet Explorer 5.00
and above, Netscape 4x and above and AOL 5 and above and comes pre-installed
with all Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating
systems. This browser compatibility makes InstantSSL as trusted
as Verisign and Thawte.
How can I test InstantSSL?
Click
here to view a test page secured by InstantSSL, or if you would
like to test InstantSSL on your system please feel free to try one
of our fully functional Trial
SSL Certificates.
How strong are InstantSSL server certificates?
InstantSSL server certificates are 1024 bit capable and support
128 bit browsers.
The strength of the public key in the certificate is defined by
you when you generate the key pair for your server. If you generate
a 1024-bit key pair and submit the associated CSR (Certificate Signing
Request), then the certificate you receive contains the 1024-bit
public key. If you generate a 512-bit key pair then the certificate
contains the 512-bit public key.
Is my web certificate tied to my IP address?
No, server certificates do not contain any information about IP
addresses. However, the domain name listed in the server certificate
must match the domain name of the server on which the Web server
certificate is installed. The domain name can be mapped to any IP
address.
I am using several servers in a load-balancing configuration.
How many web certificates do I need?
You will need one web certificate for each of your secure servers
(including any virtual servers). With InstantSSL you can save money
by getting one of our PremiumSSL Wildcard's. The wildcard Certificate
is a cost effective and efficient means of securing all subdomains
without the need to manage multiple certificates. You can have up
to 10 domains per wildcard certificate. Click
Here for more information on our PremiumSSL Wildcard Certificates
Why does an InstantSSL Certificate cost
considerably less than other Certification Authorities?
InstantSSL has direct access to the IdAuthority,
the largest commercial directory on the web. InstantSSL can therefore
expediate the validation of an application. This efficient and highly
effective validation method ensures we can issue a Certificate at
a greatly reduced cost as reflected through our guaranteed lowest
price in the industry as well as maintain a level of validation
far superior to the methods employed by other SSL providers. In
particular, the validation process employed to issue an InstantSSL,
InstantSSL Pro or PremiumSSL Certificate is considerably more than
just a domain name ownership check - we firmly believe this method
alone to be insufficient to maintain the level of integrity in SSL
that consumers have come to expect. For more information, please
read the CA Comparison
Chart.
What is the difference between an InstantSSL, InstantSSL
Pro and PremiumSSL Certificate available through certs.centurywebdesign.co.uk?
InstantSSL Certificates are designed to secure intranet's and low
cost transactions. Our InstantSSL Pro and PremiumSSL Certificates
are designed to secure all web servers. Whilst technically the three
flavours of certificate are identical, due to the nature of how
we intend the £45 InstantSSL Certificates to be used, they
carry a reduced warranty ($50 maximum warranty). This reduced warranty
enable us to further reduce the cost of the certificate to you.
However, InstantSSL Pro Certificates carry a warranty of $2500 and
PremiumSSL Certificates carry a greatly increased warranty of $10,000
for your total peace of mind.
What does the Warranty actually mean?
We believe it is important to protect the end user. If we were to
mis-issue a certificate to a fraudulent site, and that fraudulent
site has an SSL link with an end user and as a result of this the
end user loses money. The end user had what they thought was a "trusted
session". Comodo should never have provided the fraudster with the
ability to engineer this situation. Hence, we have taken out insurance
to pay out money to the end user. How can we do this?
1. We value the end customer.
2. We believe the insurance provided greater peace of mind hence
allows the merchant to sell more products.
3. Most importantly, we value our validation techniques (delivered
through http://www.idauthority.com/).
We pre-validate customers and provide validation that is far higher
than the majority of other SSL providers. Some CA's(Cirtificate
Authority) have very weak validation hence they decide NOT to offer
insurance! Finally, it is worth pointing out, that we offer high
validation, but not at the compromise of speed. You can still obtain
SSL instantly.
I want an increased Warranty on my InstantSSL Certificate
- how can I get this?
If you require an increased warranty on your SSL Certificate, choose
from the InstantSSL Pro or PremiumSSL Certificates option. This
provides a greatly increased warranty of $2500 and $10,000 respectively.
How long does it take to process my application?
Provided we have sufficient validation information available through
the IdAuthority, your InstantSSL, InstantSSL Pro or PremiumSSL can
be issued in only minutes. If additional verification processes
must be used to validate your application, the issuance process
may take slightly longer. In such cases we guarantee that the Certificate
is issued within 2 working days. Please contact
us directly to expedite your Order should it be urgent.
Why am I asked about VAT?
Century Web Design is a UK Company. We must therefore determine
if we are to charge VAT (Value Added Tax) on the advertised price
of the sale.
Which versions of the SSL protocol
is InstantSSL compatible with?
InstantSSL is compatible with any browsers and web servers using
SSL version 3 - the de facto SSL implementation. SSL version 1 and
version 2 have been superseded by version 3 for a number of years,
mainly due to the inherent security flaws found in these old versions.
All web browsers developed after Internet Explorer 3 and Netscape
3 use SSL version 3 (however still support older SSL protocol versions).
If your web server is only capable of supporting versions 1 and
2 of the SSL protocol we strongly recommend you contact your web
server software vendor for an update - these protocols are flawed.
For more details on why SSL version 2 is no longer used can be found
here:
http://www.eucybervote.org/Reports/MSI-WP2-D7V1-V1.0-02.htm
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