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What does SSL mean?
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Why is that when I try to access
a secure web page on your server my browser shows a message saying something
about an "unknown authority".
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Does SSL work with Netscape only?
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What advantage, if any, is there
to a secure page using SSL?
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What about digital certificates.
Do I have to buy one?
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After a customer submits an order
using a secure web form how is it retrieved securely?
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I have an order! How do I get
paid by the Credit Card company?
What does SSL
mean?
SSL is an acronym for Secure Sockets
Layer. It is a protocol used for authenticating and encrypting web
traffic. For web traffic to be authenticated means that your browser is
able to verify the identity of the remote server. For web traffic to be
encrypted means that traffic between the server and your browser is scrambled
so that it is unintelligible if intercepted.
Why is that
when I try to access a secure web page on your server my browser shows
an error message saying something about an "unknown authority", and won't
load the page.
We have changed all of the secure certificates
on our servers to Thawte. Because at
one time the only certifying agency was Verisign, older web browsers
will only recognize secure certificates from them. To avoid getting error
messages in the future you should upgrade to the current version of your
web browser at http://www.thawte.com/serverbasic.crt
Does SSL work
with Netscape only?
It also works with Microsoft's Internet Explorer
(or any other SSL compatible browser).
What advantage,
if any, is there to a secure page using SSL?
The page and any response using forms on it
are encrypted in transit so that eavesdroppers who may observe raw traffic
passing through their networks can't read it. This is especially useful
in shared environments, such as a college campus or a large office which
uses standard 10 base T ether net hubs or thin ether net, where all machines
can see all traffic.
Most importantly, the use of a secure
form increases the willingness of people to submit orders online using
their credit card, which means increased sales for you.
What about digital
certificates. Do I have to buy one?
The short answer is: no.
The digital certificates used in SSL are
issued by certificate authorities such as VeriSign and Thawte. A digital
certificate will only work for the specific domain name it was issued for.
To obtain a digital certificate you must
prove that you have the legal right to use the domain name the certificate
is to be issued for, prove that you are who you say you are (for a corporation
you may be required to provide its articles of incorporation), and pay
the necessary fee ($295 for the first year if you use VeriSign) to the
certificate authority.
We have purchased digital certificates
for all of our web servers to save you the cost, delay, and difficulty
of obtaining a certificate for yourself.
After a customer
submits an order using a secure web form how is it retrieved securely?
SSL encrypts web transactions between a client
web browser and a web server. SSL is a big win because it enables a customer
to place an order with the knowledge that other local workstations or anyone,
for that matter, won't be able to eavesdrop. Once the data is on the server,
the same security applies when you view your "Orders Submitted" page.
A lot of so called "secure sites" use e-mail
to transmit the sensitive data. Almost anyone could intercept the secure
information. The e-mails generated by our script (order confirmation and
notification to you of the order) contain none of the sensitive information.
I have
an order! How do I get paid by the Credit Card company?
Talk to your bank about this. You will need
to establish a Merchant Account with your bank. There are various ways
to do this. Watch out for the fees!
Capitola Works will only get the order
for you. It's up to you to process the information and to get paid.
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