Table of contents
- The role of web hosting in securing your site
- How does SSL work?
- Obtaining and installing an SSL certificate
As of January 2024, there were almost 303 million SSL certificates online. The highest number of certificates is in the US, with over 34 million. Germany comes in a distant second with around 14 million.
SSL or Secure Sockets Layer certificates are crucial in securing online transactions by ensuring data privacy, integrity, and authentication. They encrypt the data a user’s browser sends to the web server.
SSL uses symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Initially, asymmetric encryption (public and private keys) is used to establish a secure connection, and then symmetric encryption (a single session key) is used for the actual data transfer because it is faster.
Even if data is intercepted during transmission, it cannot be read by unauthorized parties due to encryption.
SSL certificates use hashing algorithms to create a unique message digest for each data packet. The hash value will change if the data is altered during transmission, indicating tampering.
The receiving end recalculates the hash and compares it with the sent hash. If they match, the data is considered intact.
The role of web hosting in securing your site
With SSL, WordPress sites can use HTTPS. It is crucial for security and is also a ranking factor in search engines.
SSL encrypts the login process and the admin area of WordPress, protecting against man-in-the-middle attacks and ensuring that administrative actions are secure.
Secure WordPress hosting providers implement robust security measures at the server level, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security updates. They offer regular backups, ensuring that you can restore your site as soon as possible if a security breach or data loss occurs.
These hosts typically provide malware scanning and removal to keep malicious code at bay.
Protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks helps keep the site operational even under heavy traffic from malicious sources.
Secure WordPress hosts often use isolated environments for each site to prevent cross-site contamination in case one site is compromised.
If there is no SSL certificate to secure a website, only the abbreviation HTTP appears in the URL address bar. There is also no padlock symbol. The presence of HTTPs and the padlock reassures website visitors and provokes trust.
How does SSL work?
The user’s browser sends the server a message, which includes information like supported SSL/TLS versions and encryption algorithms.
The server’s response includes the SSL certificate, the chosen encryption method, and a session ID. The client validates the certificate against a trusted CA list.
The client creates a session key and uses the public key to encrypt it. This session key is then sent to the server.
The server and the client use this key to encrypt and decrypt data, establishing a secure connection.
How to obtain and install a certificate
If you have one domain, you only need a single-domain certificate. Wildcard certificates cover subdomains. If you have several domains, you need a multidomain certificate. Almost 95% of all SSL certificates serve for domain validation, and six authorities issue the majority of certificates. IdenTrus issues certificates for over half of websites, followed by Sectigo and GlobalSign with around 12% and 10%.
The public key is in the request to sign. It is transferred to the certificate authority. The private one is held on the server via the control panel or OpenSSL.
You must provide proof you own the domain to validate it, which normally happens through a DNS record or email. Once the authority verifies your info, you will get the SSL files.
