For websites requiring security, Hyperlink suggests the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates. This certificate enables e-commerce or other secure communications on the Web.

With an SSL web certificate on your website, any information sent to your web server is encrypted or scrambled, making it impossible to intercept or steal. It also displays the identity of the website owner, and the name of the independent authority who verified that identity. This independent authority is the same entity that issues the certificate. The web server certificate connects at 256, 128, 56 or 40 bit depending on the client's browser capability and the level of certificate purchased.

As used in SSL secured Internet transactions, a web certificate provides the following:

• Confirmation of Identity
  For the party receiving the information (i.e. the party controlling the server) and the party to whom the communication is intended.
• Interception prevention
  The user's information will not be intercepted and interpreted between the user's browser and the server.
  
  The assurances obtained by web certificates are a neccessity for all e-commerce implementations and any communication in which confidential information is exchanged. Internet browsers can be assured that their communications are secured by a properly authenticated web certificate as evidenced by the appearance of a little padlock in the frame of their internet browser.

An SSL web certificate also enables the end user to view the following information:

• The domain for which the certificate was issued. This allows them to check that the SSL Web Server Certificate was issued for your domain (URL).
• The owner of the certificate. This acts as further reassurance, since customers are able to see whom they are doing business with.
• The physical location of the owner. Once again this reassures customers that they are dealing with an actual entity.
• The validity dates of the certificate. This is extremely important, since it shows users that your SSL Web Server Certificate is current.

Technically, a web certificate is a statement digitally signed by a Certification Authority (CA) that uses a properly authenticated Private Key/Public Key pair to bind a public key to an identity. This provides independent confirmation of the identity on an entity. More formally, a certificate is a computer-based record which:

• Identifies the Certification Authority issuing it
• Names, identifies, or otherwise describes an attribute of the subscriber
• Contains the subscriber's public key
• Contains the digital signature of the CA issuing it
• Provides a date range over which the certificate is valid

Utilising digital SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) 'handshake' will assure that all online communications are secure while the information is being transmitted.

Hyperlink can provide you with SSL web certificates from leading vendors (such as THawte or Verisign) and manage your certificate requirements.