SSL Certificates

Not having an SSL certificate exposes your website and its visitors to significant risks. Browsers will flag your site as “Not Secure,” severely damaging user trust and credibility. Your search engine rankings on Google will be penalized, reducing visibility. Most importantly, any data transmitted (like form submissions or logins) is sent in plain text, making it vulnerable to interception and theft. For e-commerce sites, this is catastrophic and often violates data protection regulations like those in the UAE.

A CSR is typically generated through your web hosting control panel (like cPanel or Plesk) or via command line on your server. In cPanel, you navigate to the SSL/TLS section and use the “Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests” tool. You fill in the required fields: domain name, organization details, city, state, and country. The system creates the CSR and a private key. You copy the CSR text to submit to your certificate provider. Crucially, you must securely save the generated private key, as it’s needed for installation.

The issuance time depends on the validation level. Domain Validation (DV) certificates are typically issued almost instantly or within minutes after you verify domain ownership via email or DNS. Organization Validation (OV) certificates require the CA to verify your business’s legal existence and can take 1-3 business days. Extended Validation (EV) certificates involve the most rigorous checks and can take 5-7 business days. Providers like Truehost streamline the process for DV certificates, ensuring activation in under 30 minutes.

Installation involves uploading the certificate files provided by the CA to your web server and configuring the server software (like Apache or Nginx) to use them. In a typical cPanel environment, you use the “Install an SSL Certificate” tool, paste the certificate code (and possibly the CA bundle), and select the domain. The system links the certificate to the correct private key (generated with the CSR). For managed hosting or services like Truehost’s, this process is often handled automatically or by the support team upon purchase.

Domain Validation (DV): The CA verifies you control the domain, usually via email or DNS record. Issuance is fast. It shows the padlock and HTTPS. Ideal for blogs and basic sites.

Organization Validation (OV): The CA verifies the domain ownership AND checks the legal, physical, and operational existence of your organization. The certificate includes your company name. Used by businesses and corporations.

Extended Validation (EV): The most stringent validation. The CA conducts a comprehensive examination of your organization. It triggers the green address bar or company name display in browsers, offering the highest visual trust. Used by financial institutions and major brands.

Yes, SSL certificates have a defined validity period, typically one year for publicly trusted certificates (as per CA/Browser Forum rules). You must renew your certificate before it expires. If it expires, browsers will display severe security warnings to your visitors, and encrypted connections will fail. The renewal process is similar to the initial application but is often streamlined. Many providers, including Truehost, offer auto-renewal services to prevent accidental lapses in security.

The SSL/TLS handshake is the process that establishes a secure session between a client (browser) and a server. It’s a series of messages exchanged to agree on encryption algorithms, authenticate the server (and optionally the client), and generate session keys. Key steps include: the client’s “ClientHello,” the server’s “ServerHello” with its certificate, key exchange, and the final generation of symmetric session keys for fast, secure bulk encryption. This handshake happens at the beginning of every new secure session, ensuring a fresh, unique encryption key.