If you are browsing information online or conducting online transactions and the browser warns that the website you visit is unsafe, would you choose to close this website? I think most people will choose to close this insecure website. If you continue to browse, the information transmitted will probably be intercepted by hackers or criminals, and all information may be exposed to illegal acts. It sounds terrible, right? And there are too many unsafe factors on the network, such as hacker attacks, information theft or financial disclosure, which will cause severe consequences to both your sites and the visitors. Therefore, network security is an important issue that can’t be ignored.

How can we ensure that the website we visit is safe and reliable? That is what an SSL certificate does. Now, let's see what an SSL certificate is and why you need it.

What Is an SSL Certificate?

As we all know, the Internet was limited to certain fields during its early period. But with the development of technology and increasing needs, it has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives, serving individuals, enterprises, government, etc. More and more users have begun to share their information on the Internet. Most of the information is private, though, involving personal and financial data. Based on this, the SSL certificate has come into play to protect information from being leaked or stolen.

To establish a secure connection between the server and the browser, the SSL certificate is used to verify the website’s identity and enable an encrypted connection to ensure that the information transmitted is kept private.

The SSL certificate was initially developed and released by Netscape and then modified several times. Experts realized that the recognized vulnerabilities of SSL need to be remedied in time. Therefore, a better and more secure protocol was required to be developed, and TLS was born. However, the name SSL stuck, SSL nowadays usually refers to TLS as a matter of fact. SSL helps to achieve that any data transmitted between users and websites is encrypted and won’t be leaked or modified. It uses an encryption algorithm to scramble the data in transmission to prevent hackers from reading them. The SSL certificate contains the domain name of the website, the certificate validity period, the certificate issuing authority and the public key used.

Why Does Your Website Need an SSL Certificate?

Deploying an SSL certificate can ensure the security of users' information, verify the identity and ownership of the website, prevent the leakage or tampering of the transmitted data, improve the credibility and brand image of the website and more. The details are as follows.

* Encrypt sensitive information. The most crucial function of an SSL certificate is to encrypt and protect the sensitive information transmitted to prevent others from stealing and tampering with data.
* Verify the real identity. The second function of the SSL certificate is to provide authentication for the website, ensure the real identity of the server, and prevent phishing websites from counterfeiting.
* Improve SEO ranking. Google search engine strongly advocates HTTPS encryption to access websites and gives preferential treatment to websites using SSL certificates in search, display and sorting.
* Eliminate browser warnings. Mainstream browsers will show "not secure" warning to their visitors for websites without enabling HTTPS. Once the warning is cleared, the security padlock will be displayed too.
* Meet the compliance requirements. The network security law, equal security 2.0, PCI/DSS and other laws and regulations require websites to do corresponding data encryption to prevent network data from being leaked, stolen or tampered with.
* Enhance customer trust. https://protocol header + security padlock. When using SSL, the company details are included. You can view them by clicking on the lock icon in the address bar, which contains detailed information about the certificate. In addition, you can also use our online tool (https://www.nicsrs.com/check-ct-log) to check the information. These security marks help enhance customer trust and make it more likely for users to conduct business with you.

In addition to the benefits described above, all SSL certificates on nicsrs.com have the following benefits：

* Get the strongest security with SHA256 Hash Algorithm and 2048-bit RSA Private key
* Activate https and the padlock icon in the address bar immediately.
* Site seal provided by CAs to earn the trust of website users.
* World-class technical support and customer team at your service 24/7.
* 30-day money-back guarantee.

That's a comprehensive introduction to the SSL certificate. To sum up, no matter which type of SSL certificate you choose, you should know what it is and why installing one for your website is best. If you are not sure how to select an SSL certificate, please visit our official website, and we will give you a detailed answer.