So you’re on a website, you see a security seal image, and they tell you it’s secure because they have SSL which stands for “Secure Sockets Layer”.

Huh?

Unfortunately, the topic of website security and SSL always seems to be discussed in techno-babble. Yet it’s important to understand what this is about when you’re shopping online, or transmitting personal information in any way for that matter, even when you’re a non-techno-geek and don’t speak the language.

So we wrote a “plain English” mini-guide called About Security and SSL for the rest of us. Key points:

• Just because you see a security seal, like MoonFlower Florist’s above, doesn’t really mean anything because these can be easily faked.
• Even SSL Internet transmissions can be intercepted. The real difference is that they’re encrypted and go to the site that holds the security certificate.
• “Secure website” is actually a misnomer. SSL works on a page by page basis, so it’s really about “secure webpages”. And hopefully the right webpages, the ones that involve your personal information.
• SSL has to be specifically “on” for any particular webpage.  There are easy ways to check, but you have to know what to look for depending on how your web browser handles it.
• What about “128 bit” encryption? That refers to the number of possible encryption codes or keys. And, yes, 128 bit is indeed extremely secure.
• And then there’s a practical example of how to check security on our website, MoonFlower.ca.

One day this may save you a lot of money, your credit rating, and a world of trouble! So read all about it at About Security and SSL.

One Response to “Secure Website, SSL, Huh?”

1. John the Geek says:

   November 14, 2008 at 3:28 pm

   Your article is very good. I understand much better now what this SSL is. I like how you explain it.