SSL Terminology is important to understand the basics of SSL Indicators.
Here are a few explanations of the most common SSL terminology:
- Certificate Authority (CA): A third-party entity that issues digital or SSL certificates.
- CA/Browser Forum: Governing entity responsible for establishing the standards of digital certificates purchased through CA’s
- Certificate Signing Request (CSR): A underdeveloped public key that is used to submit to a CA in order to get an SSL certificate.
- SSL Certificate/Public Key: A security protocol that allows a secure site to communicate privately with the Web browser. Works in conjunction with its unique Private Key.
- Private Key: A unique single most important part of key encryption. Rests on the server and works in conjunction with its public key to perform encryption. If damaged, corrupted, or lost. It must be replaced with a new one.
- Intermediate/ChainFile: Helps the SSL certificate aid the Chain of Trust to its Root Certificate.
- Root Certificate: Acts as a main Chain of Trust anchor for SSL certificates that are purchased through a CA. Rests on clients’ browsers that connect to the server system.
- Chain of Trust: Main reason why SSL certificates are enrolled from CA’s. Without a chain of trust clients may receive warning messages regarding invalid trust.
- “The SSL Certificate with its friend Intermediate from the server goes over to a club browser to meet up with their friend Root, and the three have a great time.”
- Malware: Malicious code that disrupts computer operations, gathers sensitive information, or gains unauthorized access to computer systems.
- Vulnerability Assessment: An automatic scan of public-facing Web sites to identify weaknesses.
- Trust Seal: A secure image that displays on Web sites to increase consumer confidence.
- Seal-in-Search: Displays the Norton Secured Seal next to search engine results.
- NetSure Extended Warranty: Provides financial protection for Symantec certificate holders.
- CAB Forum: An association of certificate authorities and Web browser vendors that work to ensure the highest level of standards for Web security.
- RSA: is one of the first practicable public-key cryptosystems and is widely used for secure data transmission. In such a cryptosystem, the encryption key is public and differs from the decryption key which is kept secret. In RSA, this asymmetry is based on the practical difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers, the factoring problem. RSA stands for Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman, who first publicly described the algorithm in 1977.
- ECC: Symantec is the first commercial Certificate Authority to sell certificates based on ECC (Elliptical Curve Cryptography) algorithms. This next-generation algorithm provides stronger security and better server utilization than current standard encryption methods but requires shorter key lengths. The result is increased protection and a better customer experience. Many other players in the IT security technology space are looking at ECC, and starting to build it into their future development cycles. While at the time of this publication, RSA is still the standard for SSL/TLS encryption, given the changes in root availability, guideline directives to change key sizes, and improved performance, it is clear that ECC is going to be a major factor in securing the security ecosystem for years to come.
ABOUT ACMETEK
Acmetek Global Solutions, Inc. is a privately held Digital Security Services Company serving USA & APAC clients in website security solutions since 2010. The firm specializes in providing insight and expertise to enterprises, SMBs, and governments, and provides a full range of Security Products, SSL, PKI, IoT, Malware Identity Scanning, Vulnerability Assessments, and Two-Factor Authentication. We hope you have found the SSL Terminology useful.
Acmetek is a managed service partner of multi-brand technology solutions like CDW. We manage the Certificate Authority Practices of leading Website Security Brand, DigiCert (formerly known as Symantec). Over a decade of experience in the security industry empowered us to grow as an Authorized Distributor/ Platinum Partner for DigiCert and a leading provider of security solutions and services.
For more information on SSL/TLS Certificates, Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs), Public Key Infrastructure Certificates, SSL/TLS Certificate Lifecycle Management, and Matter Certificates email to sslsupport@acmetek.com or visit https://www.acmetek.com/contact-us/