Digital Certificates and Secure Web Access

Digital certificates identify a website or user's identity through encryption, by digitally signing to the certificate. They work like driver's licenses, which are validated with physical documents like passports and original birth certificates. Certificates are set up by a Certification Authority (CA), who is authorized to create and sign an issued credential for the public to trust.

You can buy digital certificates from CAs, who then give you the codes to upload into your site in order to establish your identity as authentic. You must host all of your files on a secure server that supports SSL encryption so that others can't see what you're doing.

You can buy SSL certificates from public-key CAs, who give you a certificate that works with the browser to encrypt and decrypt data being sent through the Web. You must purchase a separate SSL certificate for each domain you own so that browser requests can be directed to the right server.

Digital certificates work as long as: (1) your server holds the private key (the seed) to sign your digital certificate; (2) someone else has access to verify your digital signature; and (3) someone else holds the public key necessary to decrypt what's signed with your private key. Even then, there are still threats on the Internet. It's also possible for bad people to create fraudulent certificates that others will accept and trust as valid.

Digital certificates are not a panacea. You still must use good security practices to protect your computer, your files and your privacy on the Internet. But they can help you establish a strong digital identity for your business and protect all of the data in transit.

What About the Web? (and Why I'm Not Talking about It)

There's a lot of talk about HTML5 and web applications, but that's no substitute for secure encryption when you're moving data through the Internet. With HTML5, we'll be able to build interactive sites with no server-side programming or scripting languages like VBScript. This will let us create rich Internet-based applications more easily.

For example, you might be able to submit an online job application through a search engine result that uses HTML5 to populate a job application form, then encrypts and transmits your data through the Internet. The server handling your request can then use this information to contact you by phone or email. In this case, both your data and the content of the site are encrypted to protect any private information you provide. It's certainly simpler than what we have now.

However, there's still a major problem: HTML5 is not yet implemented for all the major browsers (although there are tests underway). When it is in place—and even when it isn't—you still need secure encryption for your data transmissions. That's just too important to abandon.

With servers and applications, there's also a chance that hackers will try to break into your system. Even if you carefully manage server updates and patches, there are always new vulnerabilities discovered in the programs that run those servers. If a hacker breaks into your Web server, they can steal all of the information on it—including encrypted data in transit—and use it to harm your business.

For example, a corporation might use Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) as its default port for secure communication outside the firewall. This lets that company communicate with other sites over port 443 (HTTPS).

Conclusion

As long as you select a CAs that's secure and actively manages its own security, then you'll be able to encrypt your data reliably through the Internet. And the system of public key certificates means that it's still possible for good people with bad intentions to create fraudulent digital certificates. However, SSL certificates are inexpensive and popular. Most Web business owners hear about them from other owners who already have them in place and for good reason: they're secure, effective and easy to use.

(Note: There are also some free options that don't charge you a cent but aren't as reliable or as popular.