With major search engines like Google and Yahoo making it clear that SSL is no more a necessity but a compulsion, businesses have started pursuing SSL seriously. Today, SSL is not only about ticking an achievement but also about making the users feel safe and secure. Secure Socket Layers have impacted the way people interact with a website. A user is likely not to share his or her personal credentials if the site is not secure.
Any site that functions on HTTP need to pace up otherwise they will grow obsolete in no time. With HTTPS becoming a standard, even small-scale businesses and bloggers are adopting it. Bloggers are in a rush to adapt to SSL because it helps them improve their search engine presence and also rank above sites that function on HTTP.
While the entrepreneurial benefits of SSL are unlimited, the impact of SSL on customers and users is also quite conspicuous. Any business that is serious about making it big on the web simply cannot ignore SSL certificates. Green Padlock is perhaps the first thing any serious user looks for when shopping online. A lot of people are also skeptical about sharing personal details with a site that uses HTTP and not HTTPS.
So, what does the Green Padlock represent then?
Let’s get into the innocuous details and find out why green padlock matters so much to users and why it should be a matter of concern for businesses of all sizes.
The green padlock is a simple representation of the fact that all traffic to this site and from this site is protected through encryption. In simple words, any information that you send or receive through this site is encrypted and cannot be decoded by unauthorized personnel. The encryption ensures that only the website and authorized entity can read the data provided by you. The authorized entity might include Payment Gateway that is responsible for processing the payments authorized by you.
What all benefits a Green Padlock represents?
- Your credit/debit card details are secure with the site.
- Your personal data cannot be accessed by unauthorized personnel.
- Every information you share with the site including your location and age is encrypted and secure
- Helps you avoid fake and dubious sites
Is it possible for websites to fake a Green Padlock?
In the technology-laden contemporary world, Yes! It is possible for website owners to fake a Green Padlock and deceive you. You might end up on a site that showcases a green padlock or has a URL that starts with HTTPS but they are not the genuine site but a phishing page.
Such cases have been brought to notice by a lot of users from around the world. A lot of phishing websites have cheated common people of money and data. What a user can do to avoid such traps? What a user can do distinguish between a real and a bogus site with a fake green padlock? How is a user supposed to know which is a true website and which one is a fake?
If you are equally worried about identifying between a true and a fake site, you need to do the following before you share credit/debit card details with a site:
- Never go to a site through search engines.
- Always enter the URL Manually and access a site
- Always look for both HTTPS and Green Padlock
- Always look for the green padlock in the address bar and not anywhere else on the page
- Try accessing other pages to ensure that the whole site is protected with SSL
- Visit a website only if the padlock appears to be green in color and not red. A Red Padlock means either the site is flagged or has a dubious history
Why Extended Validated SSL Certificate is not enough for your Site?
At a glance, Extended Validated SSL certificates appear to be the best option for websites but it is certainly not. An Organization Validation validated certificate will always win over an extended validated SSL certificate because it provides information about the location of the organization and establishes trust.
Here’s a list of reasons why EV SSL might just not be the best thing for your business:
- Users cannot differentiate between EV and OV Certificates. OV and EV padlocks look the same hence a user cannot differentiate serving any purpose.
- EV certificates provide no better encryption than DV, which means lesser security.
- With EV certificates it is not possible to receive payment with full encryption. Data might get leaked and accessed by hackers
- EV certificates are basically a procedure that businesses get done with but in reality, it provides no benefit. Google and Amazon don’t even have EV certificates while Twitter has but all of them OV certificates.
- HTTPS was developed to help people transport data with security. EV and DV were designed only to help small-scale bloggers and businesses to have the requisite security, they serve no purpose.
What are some other norms a site owner should follow while building a secure site?
There’s a lot that needs to be done when building a secure site, a business owner might need to get a lot of validations approved and also work on the overall design to make the site secure and trust-worthy.
Here’s everything a site owner can follow:
- User HTTPS for the entire site and not only for pages where data is shared or payments are processed
- Make sure that all resources coming from outside are also encrypted. Get all your partners to adopt HTTPS too.
- Avoid adding images of Green Padlock anywhere on your site apart of the address bar. Images of Green Padlock may appear to be deceptive for users.
Online security is a hot topic, while the entire Internet community is holding debates and conferences to decide the roadmap for online security, adopting OV SSL Certificates is a good option for business.
Displaying a green padlock solves your problem by 50%; a user is going to feel comfortable and secure. With proper EV and OV SSL certificate, you can stir them in a different direction and acquire their trust like never before.
