An SSL Certificate is a digital certificate that validates the identity of a Web site and encrypts information sent to the server using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology/protocol. It allows you to establish your credentials when doing business or other transactions on the Web.
An SSL Certificate is issued by a Certification Authority (CA) and signed with the CA's private key. It contains the following information:
- Owner's public key
- Owner's name
- Expiration date of the public key
- Name of the issuer (the CA that issued the SSL Certificate)
- Serial number of the SSL Certificate
- Digital signature of the issuer
