Secure Sockets Layer - SSL

I evaluated nearly 50 different SSL certificate services from 13 different certificate authorities (CA). These are the ten cheapest certificates you can get and my estimation as to whether they are worth the price or not. All prices are based on their prices for 1 year of service, paid annually. Many CAs will offer discounts (sometimes very significant ones) for multi-year purchases. I evalu…

Self-signed SSL certificates have the advantage of being free to set up and use. But there are some drawbacks. Find out what other About.com readers think of self-signed SSL certificates.

A common question about creating a secure Web server (https) is whether you can or should use a free SSL certificate. The short answer is that it is possible to use a free certificate, but except for testing it\'s not a good idea.

HTTPS or HTTP over SSL is a way to encrypt data sent and received over the Web so that monetary and other sensitive transactions are secure. If you are going to run a store on your Web site and collect credit card or other monetary data, you should use an HTTPS secured server so that the data is secure.

When you use SSL to create a secure, encrypted connection to your Web server you can use a signed certificate by a recognized certificate authority or you can sign the certificate yourself. There are only a few differences between each type of certificate, but they are critical ones.

It's easy to create your own SSL certificate and sign it yourself. You can then avoid paying for certificates you don't need.

You can use Apache, openSSL, and mod_ssl to create a self-signed certificate on your Web server. This has the advantage of being free, but the disadvantage of not being as trustworthy as a certificate that's been verified by an outside source.

Digicert offers both wildcard and single site SSL certificates.

An inexpensive alternative for SSL certificates.

Learn how to set up SSL on Apache 2.

Get an SSL certificate from Network Solutions. For prices as low as $99 per year.

Verisign is the number one choice for most companies looking for SSL certificates. And they even offer a free trial.