The first question that pops up in your head must be why
should you even care about something called SSL Certificate?
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and it’s a type
of protocol that encrypts the data transmitted between two
devices, such as PC and server.
In simpler words,
it’s a method of digitally encoding the information so that
unwanted or unauthorized parties can’t view or tamper with it.
An SSL certificate is a digital document that identifies a
website and encrypts the data that passes between a user’s
browser and the site.
If you’re shopping online or
sending information on a site that has an SSL certificate,
chances are you won’t even notice it happening. But without it,
your data could be exposed to hackers and identity thieves.
When
you visit a website with an HTTPS address (the secure version of
HTTP), the browser shows a green padlock icon in your address
bar, indicating that the site is secure, and “https://” appears
before the domain name instead of “http://.”
The
padlock icon means that there’s an SSL certificate installed on
the site’s server. This will allow encrypted communication
between your browser and your bank’s website or another secure
site where you might be making sensitive transactions.
SSL certificates are a form of digital security that is used to
encrypt data between an Internet-connected server and a web
browser. SSL certificates can be setup and installed on any type
of web server, including Linux, Apache and Microsoft IIS.
There
are several different types of SSL certificates, but they all
serve the same purpose:
An SSL certificate is an essential part of encrypting your
website. This allows customers to see a padlock icon in the
browser bar and know that their information is secure when
they’re on your website.
A valid SSL certificate will
be accepted by all browsers, but if it expires, then that
functionality will disappear from your site.
This is
why it’s important to monitor the expiration date of your SSL
certificate. If it expires before you have a chance to renew it,
then users may start seeing warnings like “This Site Cannot
Provide a Secure Connection” or worse still, they might not be
able to access your site at all!
If you’re managing your own website, then you’re probably aware that your SSL certificate expires. Although this may seem like a minor detail, it’s actually very important because if your certificate expires, there are several things that can happen:
In the end, there are two reasons to take advantage of an SSL
certificate: first, to improve your site’s security, and second
to improve your users’ experience. If your certificate expires
without being renewed, however, either of these could be
compromised. So why not keep an eye on it?
Monitoring
your SSL certificate expiration date is now easier thanks to
MonSpark website monitoring service.
It provides real-time alerts via SMS and email when your SSL
certificate is about the expire or expires. As a result, you’ll
never have to deal with costly surprise attacks or avoidable
penalties from Google, Microsoft or others when it’s not
absolutely necessary.
