Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): How It Works

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology protects your Web site and makes it easy for your Web site visitors to trust you in three essential ways:

1.An SSL Certificate enables encryption of sensitive information during online transactions.
2.Each SSL Certificate contains unique, authenticated information about the certificate owner.
3.A Certificate Authority verifies the identity of the certificate owner when it is issued.

You need SSL if…
•you have an online store or accept online orders and credit cards
•you offer a login or sign in on your site
•you process sensitive data such as address, birth date, license, or ID numbers
•you need to comply with privacy and security requirements
•you value privacy and expect others to trust you.

Imagine sending How Encryption Works
mail through the postal system in a clear envelope. Anyone with access to it can see the data. If it looks valuable, they might take it or change it. An SSL Certificate establishes a private communication channel enabling encryption of the data during transmission. Encryption scrambles the data, essentially creating an envelope for message privacy.

Each SSL Certificate consists of a public key and a private key. The public key is used to encrypt information and the private key is used to decipher it. When a Web browser points to a secured domain, a Secure Sockets Layer handshake authenticates the server (Web site) and the client (Web browser). An encryption method is established with a unique session key and secure transmission can begin. True 128-bit SSL Certificates enable every site visitor to experience the strongest SSL encryption available to them.

How Authentication Works
Imagine receiving an envelope with no return address and a form asking for your bank account number. 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 information from the server. By clicking the closed padlock in the browser window or certain SSL trust marks (such as the VeriSign Secured® Seal), the Web site visitor sees the authenticated organization name. In high-security browsers, the authenticated organization name is prominently displayed and the address bar turns green when an Extended Validation SSL Certificate is detected. If the information does not match or the certificate has expired, the browser displays an error message or warning.

Why Authentication Matters
Like a passport or a driver’s license, an SSL Certificate is issued by a trusted source, known as the Certificate Authority (CA). Many CAs simply verify the domain name and issue the certificate. VeriSign verifies the existence of your business, the ownership of your domain name, and your authority to apply for the certificate, a higher standard of authentication.

VeriSign Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates meet the highest standard in the Internet security industry for Web site authentication as required by CA/Browser Forum. EV SSL Certificates give high-security Web browsers information to clearly display a Web site’s organizational identity. The high-security Web browser’s address bar turns green and reveals the name of the organization that owns the SSL Certificate and the SSL Certificate Authority that issued it.

Because VeriSign is the most recognized name in online security, VeriSign SSL Certificates with Extended Validation will give Web site visitors an easy and reliable way to establish trust online.

buySAFE with VeriSign: Provide your shoppers ultimate peace of mind.

buySAFE has partnered with VeriSign to bring online merchants like you the most comprehensive Trust and Security solution to empower online commerce. VeriSign is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence.

Consumer reluctance to purchase online is caused by uncertainty. There are two main questions that, if unanswered, reduce the likelihood of visitors to your site becoming buyers:

■Is this merchant reliable and will they perform as promised?
■Is my personal information secure?
Is this merchant reliable and will they perform as promised?
buySAFE provides qualified retailers with the Internet’s only third-party endorsement and guarantee of their reliability and stability. buySAFE is a two-part trust solution. The buySAFE Seal reassures uncertain shoppers they are buying from a high quality, reliable and stable merchant. The buySAFE Bond option during checkout provides shoppers an option for extra peace of mind via a bond with two valued benefits: 1) a full guarantee of the transaction terms of sale, up to $25,000 and 2) 30 days of identity theft protection everywhere. This bond option helps convert even the most risk-averse consumers. Together they are proven to increase website conversion over 10%1 and repeat buyer rates by as much as 20%2.

Is my personal information secure?
VeriSign® SSL solutions help you deliver a secure and convenient way for your customers to interact with you over the Internet. When you display the VeriSign Secured® Seal, your customers will recognize the most trusted security mark on the Internet and gain the confidence to complete their transactions with you.

To succeed in today’s hyper competitive ecommerce industry and in a world where consumer confidence is near an all time low, online merchants need to help uncertain consumers overcome the two key trust and security questions of every shopper. Use buySAFE and VeriSign to completely address these concerns and see your sales and profits dramatically increase.

About VeriSign and buySAFE
BALTIMORE, MD — (Marketwire) — August 4, 2009 — eTail East Conference, Booth #27 – VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, is broadening its portfolio of trust-building solutions for online commerce with buySAFE, Inc. buySAFE provides online merchants a bonding solution that inspects the merchant’s business, monitors their performance and enables shoppers to bond their purchases, which has been shown to significantly increase Web site conversion, sales and customer loyalty.

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