SECURITY through SSL

One of the most important aspect that one needs to look into before creating an e-commerce site is security. I am sure you would have heard about hacking and a lot of fraud that happens on the Internet. So before creating an e-commerce site one certainly needs to look into the security since you will have to protect the customers interest as you will have access to the credit card and other private bank information of the customer which if it goes in the wrong hand will create a very big problem to the customer as well as you. If you are the owner of the site you will have to protect yourself from any liability that might arise from any type of theft of the private information. If you are the developer of the website you would still be liable since at the end of the day you re the one who created the website. There is so much problem with credit card information theft that one needs to tighten up the security and thus cover each and everybody involved with the website from any kind of liability or any other problem.

Now lets discuss about the topic in details. Now if a customer comes to your store to buy something and does not feel safe then he would not buy anything and leave the store. It’s the same incase of an online store as well. Till the time the customer is satisfied that the site is pretty safe nobody would like to carry out any transactions on the site, so it is very necessary that the customer has to be made comfortable since everybody is apprehensive about doing online transactions because of the fear of theft of there personal information, so creating a safe environment for the customer is a must. And the customer needs to know that he/she is safe and SSL is one important aspect that gives the customer a feeling of safety.

You as a owner of the store have a responsibility of protecting your customer and that you usually do by putting up security guards at the entrance so that the customer has a feeling of safety in his/her mind. In the same manner in an e-store the SSL is the security guard that makes the customer feel safe. One needs to pay special attention to the security since there can be a number of legal consequences that one might have to deal with incase your e-site is not fully secure and for this SSL is the best method to safeguard yourself from any legal hassle.

So what is an SSL? Originally developed by Netscape Communications to allow secure access of a browser to a Web server, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) has become the accepted standard for Web security. The main role of SSL is to provide security for Web traffic. Security includes confidentiality, message integrity, and authentication. SSL achieves these elements of security through the use of cryptography, digital signatures, and certificates. SSL protects confidential information through the use of cryptography. Sensitive data is encrypted across public networks to achieve a level of confidentiality. SSL’s are available in 128 and 256 bit and 128 bit is prefect for an e-commerce site.
Like a passport or a driver’s license, an SSL Certificate is issued by a trusted authority, the Certificate Authority (CA). Every SSL Certificate is created for a particular server in a specific domain for a verified business entity When the SSL handshake occurs, the browser requires authentication from the server. A customer sees the organization name when they click certain SSL trust marks (such as the VeriSign Secured Seal) or use a browser that supports Extended Validation. If the information does not match or the certificate has expired, the browser displays an error message or warning. An SSL Certificate helps Web site visitors protect sensitive information and get a better idea of who they are trusting with it.

When you connect to a secure web server, the server authenticates itself to the web browser by presenting a digital certificate. The certificate is proof that an independent trusted third party has verified that the website belongs to the company it claims to belong to. A valid certificate gives customers confidence that they are sending personal information securely, and to the right place.


SSL certificates can provide you with non-forgeable proof of your website's identity, and customer confidence in the integrity and security of your online business. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of SSL security and will often not purchase online from non-secure stores. All major web merchants use SSL security to encourage customers to buy online


An SSL is a must an e-commerce site so that you do not loose your customers and neither do you face any legal problems. If there is a person who came on your website and his/her credit card information was stolen then they would never come back to your site and might also file a legal notice on you. So to be away from all these problems SSL is the answer.