There are a few different SSL certificates available out there to apply to your website(s) to increase security and ensure your users that you’re legit. The highest (best) SSL certificate currently available is the Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate, commonly referred to by webmasters as the “Green Bar” cert. It looks like this and you’ll probably find it on the websites of banks, financial institutions, and other websites that require the utmost highest degree of security for their users. It usually comes with up to 256-bit encryption to ensure that the data being sent is encrypted.
In order to be EV SSL certified, the SSL certification industry governing board (The Certification Authority Browser Forum, or CA/Browser Forum for short) first has to verify the following about the website and the website owner:
- Ownership of the domain must be verified
- Legal Records, including legal name, registration number, address, phone number, and any other assumed business names
- Proof of physical business address for the business that owns the domain
- Additional information depending on your registrar and circumstance
Can anyone apply for aN EV SSL Certificate?
As long as you jump through the legal paperwork and are a legitimate, serious business, you will most likely be able to register for a EV SSL. If you are an individual or unregistered organization, you will not be able to own an EV SSL certificate. Additionally, you must not be from the list of banned countries. Your registering agency will be able to help you out with this step, but you first need to be registered with an “official registration agency in your industry”. What exactly qualifies an agency to be official is still not very clear – but when you apply for an EV SSL through your web host or whatever company you go through to buy the certificate, they will probably walk you through the steps required.
You might be wondering – why is this so difficult and why does any of this matter? Well, the EV SSL is suppose to ensure not only that you are able to process data securely, but also able to protect your customers, so understandably the governing board for these certificates wants to make sure that they are not issuing to shady organizations because it would ruin the trust factor that comes with this type of certificate.
How long does it take to receive an EV SSL Certificate?
It can take anywhere from one week to three weeks to be issued an EV SSL depending on the date and your registrar. This is due to the robust security measures set in place to ensure that your business is indeed legitimate and you have all the necessary requirements to obtain the certificate.
How Can I purchase an ev SSL certificate?
Many online web hosts and retailers sell EV SSl certs. Namecheap has provided a handy list of SSL options depending on your budget, and they are the cheapest I’ve been able to find so far, so that would be a good place to start.
Bonus: Why doesn’t Wiyre.com have an EV SSL cert? Because it doesn’t process credit cards…or really any user information of that matter.