How SSL Certificates work?

How SSL Certificates work?

Introduction

When you visit a website, the first thing that happens is that the server sends you its public key and digital certificate. You use this information to check whether you trust the certificate, which helps establish secure communication between your browser and the server. Once trust has been established, SSL is used as an encryption protocol that ensures all data sent over an HTTPS connection is encrypted. This means no one else will be able to read it as it travels across networks on its way from your computer to the web server at the other end of the Internet connection. This can be particularly important when it comes to ecommerce websites because they often contain personal information like credit card details; therefore, having an encryption protocol in place ensures these details are protected during transmission through cyberspace!

First, a client sends a secure connection request to a web server such as Apache.

First, a client sends a secure connection request to a web server such as Apache. The web server responds with a certificate that the client checks for validity and authenticity. If the certificate is valid and authentic, then it is encrypted by the client using an asymmetric key algorithm (such as RSA or Elliptic Curve). This symmetric encryption key is then sent to the server where it can be decrypted using either a private key or public key from its own certificate, respectively.

The server sends back its public key with a digital certificate.

Now that the server has received your public key, it sends back a digital certificate. The digital certificate contains the server's public key and other information about the server. This information can be used by you to verify that you are connecting to the correct server.

The digital certificate is signed by a trusted authority, and it may also contain other information such as:

  • The name of the organization that owns or manages this website or service

  • A serial number for this certificate (uniquely identifying it)

  • Information about when this certificate expires (e.g., in 2031)

The client checks whether it trusts the digital certificate and whether the certificate is valid.

When the client checks if it trusts the certificate, it does so by checking whether the digital certificate is present in its list of trusted certificates (a list of digital certificates that are considered to be valid). It also checks the validity of the certificate. The client does this by checking that:

  • The certificate was issued by a trusted CA

  • The timestamp on the certificate has not expired

  • There aren't any signs that someone has tampered with or revoked your certificate

The client uses the public key to encrypt a random symmetric encryption key, and then sends it back to the server with the encrypted URL required as well as other encrypted HTTP data.

The public key is used to encrypt a random symmetric encryption key, and then send it back to the server with the encrypted URL required as well as other encrypted HTTP data.

If all goes well, the server decrypts the symmetric encryption key using its private key and then uses that symmetric key to decrypt the URL and HTTP data. This is done using an algorithm called triple DES (3DES).

3DES works by taking plaintext data and applying a sequence of three different cryptographic operations to it. Specifically, first a block cipher (in this case, 3DES) is applied in Electronic Code Book mode (ECB), which simply means that each individual block of plaintext is encrypted directly without any additional integrity checks on it. The result is then XORed with another randomly generated block of random bits and then passed through another instance of ECB encryption as well thus encrypting both blocks together. This process is repeated one more time for good measure before finally returning to normal text format via Base64 encoding and sending off over SSL!

From this stage on, all data during the connection is exchanged with symmetric encryption.

At this stage on, all data during the connection is exchanged with symmetric encryption. This is much faster than asymmetric encryption and it's also more secure because it uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data. Asymmetric encryption instead uses two keys: one public, which can be shared freely with anyone; and one private (or secret), which must be closely guarded as it can be used to decrypt messages that were encrypted using the public key.

SSL establishes trust for websites and their users, so it can be vital for an ecommerce company's security

SSL establishes trust for websites and their users, so it can be vital for an ecommerce company's security.

If you run a website that handles sensitive information such as credit card numbers or passwords, you should use or purchase SSL Certificates from SSL Cert Shop to encrypt the data from your server to the browser of your customers. This ensures that no third party can intercept this information in transit.

Conclusion

That is, it! Now you know how SSL works and why it's so important for e-commerce websites. If you're looking for more information on SSL and other security measures, we recommend checking out our blog posts on the subject.