Last Updated on September 18, 2022 by admin
A virtual certificate that is intended for the authentication of the identity of a web page is known as an SSL certification. The term “SSL” is the abbreviation of “Secure Sockets Layer”. SSL certificates ensure that a user’s internet connection is securely encrypted without any scope of privacy breach. It generates a protocol of protection that essentially establishes a hyperlink between a web browser and a web server.
SSL certificates are required by major corporations or business organizations during the creation of their official website. As a result, all transactions between an organization and their clients are strongly safeguarded and privacy of customer details is ensured.
In a nutshell, the predominant role of an SSL certificate is establishing secure connections and preventing access of unauthorized sources that may potentially cause harm to personal data.
A Subject Alternative Name field (abbreviated to “SAN”) is primarily required for providing users with the ability to be specific about additional host names ( i.e., IP addresses, site names, common names and so on). These supplementary details will also be safeguarded by an SSL certificate in the form of either a “Multi-Domain Certificate” or an “Extra Validation Multi Domain Certificate”.
SAN finds maximum usage in securing host names on various domains in just one SSL certificate. A Subject Alternative Field is particularly utilized for the affiliation of storage. It can be alternatively stated that SAN is an organized method of indication of all IP addresses and domain names that are necessary to be secured.
When the browser that you are using tries to establish a connection using the HTTPS hyperlink, it first ensures the name matching between your SSL certificate and the host name that is exhibited in the address bar of the website in question.
There are technically three methods of ensuring name compatibility are:
The most typical method of SSL name matching involves a comparison between the server name and the Common Name in the server’s Certificate performed by the SSL client. All SSL clients will almost definitely help accurate common name matching.
If a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) field is present in an SSL certificate, SSL clients are expected to skip the Common Name value and look for a match in the SAN list instead. Due to this, DigiCert’s certifications always start with the generic term as the first SAN.
Subject Optional Names and Wildcard Certificates are supported by the majority of smartphones, although only exact Common Name matching is supported by all of them.
Some of the clients that allows the usage of SAN field are:
Since all smart phones are not capable of supporting SAN field, the safest option is to program your common name in such a way that it is compatible with the name that will be used in the majority of cell phones. Otherwise it may be observed that no alternative certificate subject name matches target host name.
This exception during the execution of a certificate is faced by the user when there is an attempt to establish a secure connection over SSL certification and the host name is not validated in comparison to the SSL certificate of the server in question.
In case a particular web page is making use of Subject Alternative Names, the host name of the requesting server must be a compatible match with one of the SAN fields. If the SSL certificate of the server in question does not contain SANs, in that case there must be a match with the common name of the certificate.
Final Thoughts
It has already been established how important SSL certificates are in terms of encryption and security. Not only do they enhance security, but also verify the authenticity of websites, convey a trustworthy message to users and clients as well as minimize chances of attackers from creating a fake prototype. In case your website requests a customer’s private information, an SSL certification is mandatory.
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