The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol was created by Netscape to ensure secure transactions between web servers and browsers. The protocol uses a third party, a Certificate Authority (CA), to identify one end or both end of the transactions. This is in short how it works.

Now, let's take brief view on what are SSL certificates?

SSL Certificates can be defined as small data files that are digitally bind a cryptographic key to an organization’s details. When we it installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol and also allows a secure connections from a web server to a browser. SSL is used to secure credit card transactions, data transfer and logins, and more recently it is becoming the norm when securing browsing of social media sites.

SSL Certificates can be bind together by two ways:

• A domain name, hostname or server name.

• An organizational identity (i.e. company name) and location.

An organization must needs to install the SSL Certificate onto its web server in order to initiate a secure session with browsers. Once a secure connection will be established, all the web traffic between the web server and the web browser will also be secure.

When a certificate is successfully installed on our server, the application protocol (known as HTTP) will change to HTTPs, where the ‘S’ stands for ‘secure’. Depending on the type of certificate we purchase and what browser we are surfing the internet on, a browser will show a padlock or green bar in the browser when we visit a website that has an SSL Certificate installed.