{"id":921,"date":"2020-11-30T16:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T14:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/?p=921"},"modified":"2022-10-06T23:58:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T20:58:23","slug":"getting-started-with-ssl-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/getting-started-with-ssl-certificates\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started With SSL Certificates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of initiatives to help make the Internet a safer place, search engines like <\/span><b>Google strongly encourage websites to install Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These certifications encrypt all visitor data, ensuring users the website they landed on keeps their information safe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Table of Contents: Getting Started With SSL Certificates<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is an SSL<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why You Need an SSL Certificate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Installing an SSL Certificate on Your Site<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding SSL Certificate Types<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Securing Multiple Sites and Subdomains<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where to Get Your SSL Certificate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If You Need Help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is an SSL<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><b>SSL is a secure protocol used for communication<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> between a web browser and server. In the context of websites, they help <\/span><b>safeguard the data that passes between visitor and website<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. When an SSL connection is established, all information between the two points undergoes encryption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although SSL may seem very abstract to most users, understanding them is not that difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a web browser first tries to <\/span><b>communicate with a web server,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it needs to ensure it got in touch with the right one. This first step forms the basis for the connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The SSL certificate acts as a guarantee of authenticity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, assuring the web browser that it is, in fact, the correct destination point by displaying the server\u2019s credentials. This credential display is <\/span><b>digitally signed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and cannot be forged.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To establish this level of trust, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/ssl-certificates.html\"><b>SSL certificates<\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are typically signed by a handful of companies (known as <strong>Certificate Authorities or CAs<\/strong>) that web browsers know and trust. In short, they are the means that allow web <\/span><b>browsers to trust<\/b><b> the destination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> they are heading to is assuredly the correct one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why You Need an SSL Certificate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-922\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/hsbc.jpg\" alt=\"Getting Started With SSL Certificates, Why You Need an SSL Certificate\" width=\"1004\" height=\"585\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/hsbc.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/hsbc-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/hsbc-768x447.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 660px, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 910px, 1140px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caption: web browsers today indicate website SSL status clearly<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without the level of trust SSL certificates help establish, the Internet can be a much more dangerous place. Fake or malicious websites may try to impersonate valid ones in an attempt to <\/span><b>steal information from visitors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the real site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an example, imagine if a hacker sets up a fake website impersonating your bank or other financial institution. If you arrive there by mistake, you will be prompted to enter<\/span><b> login and billing information <\/b>that<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can later be misused.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the reason why major browsers today prominently display the <\/span><b>security status of websites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> users are visiting. It serves as a quick first line of defense to safeguard their users.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, search engines give <\/span><b>very low priority to sites without SSL certification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, affecting the ability of these websites to rank well in search queries. Because of this, all webmasters should pay attention to their <\/span><b>SSL certification status<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not just sites that handle sensitive user data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Installing an SSL Certificate on Your Site<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Owning an SSL certificate is not enough &#8211; you also need to ensure it is <\/span><b>properly installed on your website <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to take effect. In most cases, this can easily be done via your web hosting control panel. The main difference is the type of SSL certificate you want to install.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-924\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl.jpg\" alt=\"Getting Started With SSL Certificates, Installing an SSL Certificate on Your Site\" width=\"960\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-768x265.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 660px, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 910px, 1140px\" \/><br><br><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ScalaHosting makes SSL certificate installation easy with our state-of-the-art <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/spanel.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPanel<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> web hosting control panel. The <\/span><b>Graphic User Interface (GUI) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is simple and easy to navigate. To install your SSL certificate, click on the \u2018SSL Certificates\u2019 option from the main menu.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will open up a sub-menu, allowing you to make changes to the SSL certificate associated with your website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-923\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-2.jpg\" alt=\"Getting Started With SSL Certificates, Installing an SSL Certificate on Your Site 2\" width=\"958\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-2.jpg 958w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-2-300x101.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ssl-2-768x258.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 660px, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 910px, 1140px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clicking on the \u2018Actions\u2019 dropdown menu will give you two choices &#8211;<\/span><b> Install custom SSL <\/b>or <b>Install free SSL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Depending on which type of SSL certificate you have, click on the appropriate choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Custom SSL<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This option is for <\/span><b>purchased SSL certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If you have bought a commercial SSL certificate or are migrating one from another host, choose this option. You will need to have the <\/span><b>information for the certificates to fill in<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the next page after clicking <strong>Install<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you buy an SSL certificate, you will get a file from the issuer, typically in the format: <\/span><b>your_domain.crt.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This file can be opened using a text editor to view the information inside.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will need to fill in that data in the associated fields in the <\/span><b>Custom SSL installation screen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Once you\u2019ve done that, simply click Install to complete the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Free SSL<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you do not want to purchase a private SSL certificate, ScalaHosting offers free <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/lets-encrypt-activated-servers\/\"><b>Let\u2019s Encrypt Certificates<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These can be used effectively with all types of websites, but we do not recommend using them for commercial purposes, such as online stores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To utilize the free option, you simply need to click <strong>Install<\/strong>, which will automatically start the process once you confirm this is what you want to do. Let\u2019s Encrypt SSL certificates also come with an expiry date, but this is automatically renewed for you before it actually expires.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve installed your SSL certificate, you should be able to access your website via <\/span><b>HTTPS instead of HTTP<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The former is another indication that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/cloud-hosting-secure\/\"><b>your website is secure<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How Does SSL Certificates Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Although SSL certificates are named after the Secure Socket Layer protocol, they actually use TLS. TLS stands for <strong>Transport Layer Security<\/strong> and it&#8217;s an evolution of the SSL protocol that uses a combination of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography to ensure that your browser communicates with the correct server and all the information you exchange with it is protected.<\/p>\n<p>After you type a domain name in the address bar, your browser connects to the web hosting server where the website is located. The SSL certificate installed on the server responds with a unique message authentication code, which confirms that you are communicating with the correct server.<\/p>\n<p>The next step is the so-called <strong>TLS<\/strong> <strong>handshake. <\/strong>During it, the server and the browser use asymmetric encryption to establish the connection and set up the secure session. Asymmetric encryption means that there&#8217;s a public key available to anyone and a private one that is kept secret. Information encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted using the private one, and vice versa. This means that the information exchanged between the server and the browser isn&#8217;t visible to anyone else.<\/p>\n<p>During the TLS handshake, the server and the browser negotiate the encryption algorithm for the session and exchange data that helps them create a symmetric encryption key that will be used to protect the flow of information.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the TLS handshake, you can be sure that you&#8217;re communicating with the correct server. Meanwhile, the symmetric encryption used after it means the data is protected by a mechanism that is both quick and reliable.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Understanding SSL Certificate Types<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although most users generally know SSL certificates as either \u2018free\u2019 or \u2018commercial\u2019, there are actually clear <\/span><b>distinctions between different types of SSL certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That mostly has to do with the extent the CA goes to verify the identity of their site visitor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The <b>main types of SSL certificates <\/b>are:<\/p>\n<h3><b>Domain Validated (DV)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are typically the <\/span><b>cheapest SSL certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The issuer will only check to see if the one applying for the certificate actually owns the domain name and has the right to operate it. There are no other checks aside from this one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DV SSL certificates are the most widely used for personal sites such as blogs, portfolios, and other similar non-commercial sites. Let\u2019s Encrypt, which is a company issuing <\/span><b>free SSL certificates, offers DV SSL as well<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Organization Validated (OV)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For those who want extra assurance for their website visitors, a better option would be an <\/span><b>OV SSL certificate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Issuers who sell OV certificates will need assurance not just of the domain name ownership but also some<\/span><b> company information<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Extended Validation (EV)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among SSL certificates, EV are the most expensive and difficult to obtain. While the process is not exactly complicated, <\/span><b>extensive documentation <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">needs to be submitted to issuers in order to form a strong guarantee of authenticity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Information that needs to be verified includes:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Actual existence of the <\/span><b>business, legally, operationally, <\/b>and <b>physically<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Record matching from official sources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exclusive rights for domain ownership from the business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proper authorization for the EV issuance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because of this stringent process, it can be relatively expensive and time-consuming to get an<\/span><b> EV SSL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. However, it&#8217;s money well-spent as this is the most secure SSL option in case of <\/span><b>eventual hacker breaches<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Securing Multiple Sites and Subdomains<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you own a number of websites you may need to look for another specific type of SSL certificate. Usually, other certificates cover the exact domain name and nothing else.&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what about your subdomains or other websites?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To handle this, you need to look for either a <\/span><b>multi-domain SSL or Wildcard SSL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Multi-domain SSL<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This<\/span><b> type of SSL certificate <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is specifically for websites or even web applications that connect with multiple domain names. They are always commercial in nature and generally more expensive than <\/span><b>single-domain SSLs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>WildCard SSL<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you intend to split your site into sections using subdomains, a <\/span><b>WildCard SSL<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would be your best bet. Examples of subdomains include <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blog.yourdomain.com, shop.yourdomain.com, and news.yourdomain.com.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Where to Get Your SSL Certificate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SSL certificates are available with various providers. ScalaHosting offers the use of free Let\u2019s Encrypt SSL certificates that are suitable for general use. If you need something more secure, we also offer<\/span><b> commercial SSL certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on behalf of two highly trusted issuers &#8211; <\/span><b>GeoTrust <\/b>and <b>Symantec<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under each of these brands, you can choose from a range of options that cover all your needs. This includes <\/span><b>EV, OV, and even WildCard certificates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pricing starts from <strong>as little as $30\/year<\/strong> and goes up depending on which option you choose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>If You Need Help<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For those who are unsure about what type of SSL you need or simply need assistance for the installation process, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/contact-us.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ScalaHosting customer support<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be happy to talk this through with you. You can get in touch with the support team either via <\/span><b>Live Chat or the Ticketing System<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the support page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"youtube-player\" id=\"qwGE9xz5eb8\">How To Point a Domain Name To a Web Hosting Provider<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n    {\n        \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n        \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n        \"name\": \"How To Point a Domain Name To a Web Hosting Provider\",\n        \"description\": \"You can actually buy web hosting and domain name from different providers and just link these two things together. In this video we'll show you exactly how.\",\n        \"thumbnailUrl\": [\n            \"https:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/qwGE9xz5eb8\/maxresdefault.jpg\"\n        ],\n        \"uploadDate\": \"2022-04-11\",\n        \"duration\": \"PT3M45S\",\n        \"embedUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qwGE9xz5eb8\"\n    }\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As part of initiatives to help make the Internet a safer place, search engines like Google strongly encourage websites to install Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. These certifications encrypt all visitor data, ensuring users the website they landed on keeps their information safe. Table of Contents: Getting Started With SSL Certificates What is an SSL [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-get-started"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5117,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions\/5117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}