Important Web Security Checklist for Online Shopping

HTTPS and SSL padlock is quick, visible sign of secure session. While online users shop online, they are looking for an SSL secured website before online transactions.

SSL certificates have successfully gained overwhelming support and popularity among not only e-commerce website holders, but also among other type of website owners.

It has now become the substitute to the word “online privacy and security”. SSL secures the websites and helps gain trust of visitors, it has left its own benchmark in the world of Internet.

Any website having an SSL certificate is first of all approved as “safe” by the browsers and then a secure connection is established. If any website does not contain an SSL certificate is marked as untrusted by the browser and a warning message is displayed.

• The URL changes from the http to the https. A website secured with a standard SSL certificate or business validation certificate has the below type of URL. Small, medium businesses not dealing with much traffic and transaction can purchase these certificates.

• A green padlock ensuring the legitimacy of the website. Green padlock and “https” is provided to that website which purchases EV SSL Certificate. This is a perfect match for the needs of the large business organizations and for those websites which involves payment processors.

• A site seal, generally coming along with the SSL certificate, ensures the user that the so and so website is not only secured against hacking threats, but is also secured from viruses, malware, Trojan horses etc. Different SSL vendors provide different types of site seals depending on the need of the website. Also, this site seal can be placed anywhere on the website. Some of the trusted site seal from the trusted vendors are shown below:

Chrome displays warning message for the website having self-signed SSL certificate as:

Mainly there are two ways of getting SSL certificates. One is self-signed and another is getting an SSL certificate from the Certificate Authority. Self signed in a way are cheaper but does not guarantee the security of the website as well as the reputation of the website.

Browsers do not appreciate the self signed certificate and displays error message as below:

You can imagine what can be going on in the mind of a visitor who is visiting your website for the very first time. Not only he/she is going to reject the visit of your site, but also is going to tell this fact to his/her folks, resulting in the loss of your business’s reputation.

It would be very wise of you to secure your website with a proper SSL certificate to ensure the legitimacy as well as the popularity of your business.

You have seen how a browser reacts in the absence of SSL certificates. But what actually happens when a browser sees the presence of the SSL certificate?

• The browser first of all demands the web server to identify itself.
• A copy of the SSL certificate is sent to the browser.
• The browser checks whether the certificate is from a trusted authority or not. If the certificate is valid then it sends a message to the server.
• After that the server sends the digitally signed acknowledgement for the establishing an encrypted connection.
• If all goes well, data is transmitted between the web servers in the encrypted format, smoothly.

Considering the risk factors it is strongly recommended to the website owners to secure their website with SSL certificate purchased from the appropriate CA.  And to customers, the next time when you visit any website look for the signs mentioned above.