How Many Types of SSL Certificates? Which one is Good for Website Security?

The advent of the internet and fast-paced growth in technology has also seen a spurt in cybercrimes. The risks faced by businesses have increased manifold, and so the requirement for cybersecurity solutions has increased. The global cybersecurity market is valued at US$ 156.5 billion in 2019 and will expand at a CAGR of 10% from 2020 until 2027. You must secure your websites by procuring an SSL certificate. The one that you will need depends on your security requirements. There are quite a few such certificates from which you can choose.

SSL certificates based on validation levels

Domain Validation (DV): Domain Validation (DV): These are the basic security levels where you would only need to validate the ownership of the domain through an email or phone call. The certificate is usually delivered within minutes.

Organization Validated (OV): The authenticity of an organization is verified through its identity, physical address, etc. The organization needs to submit several business-related documents that are requested by the Certification Authority (CA). It usually takes around a couple of days to issue this certificate.

Extended Validation (EV): These certificates are issued when the Certification Authority verifies the business identity and legal records to ascertain whether any person has the exclusive rights to the domain. These certificates are usually for the high-profile websites and take longer for the CA to provide to the business.

Wildcard SSL certificates

If you have several sub-domains, you will prefer to have a single vendor for your primary domain and all sub-domains. This is where the Wildcard SSL can help. Let us go through the various types of Wildcard SSL certificates.

The DV Wildcard SSL certificates provide a quick option to secure your website domain and subdomains. It only requires the domain name along with a valid email address.

For extending OV Wildcard SSL certificates, the site owner is verified for the domain as well as the organization’s existence. The time required for the certificate to be issued usually varies across the CAs. The certificate authority checks business registration documents to prove the organization’s authenticity.

Multi-Domain SSL Certificates

The multi-domain SSL certificates are also known as SAN certificates or Subject Alternate Names. Businesses can secure several unique domains and subdomains when using a single certificate. These certificates usually support up to 100 different fully qualified domain names (FQDN) with a single certificate. All the domains must be registered with the same domain owner. The user can add, delete, or change any of the URLs as and when required. It can lead to cost savings for the business and saves the webmaster the need to renew multiple vendors’ certificates.

Unified Communications Certificates (UCC)

The Unified Communications Certificates (UCC) were mostly designed to ensure the security of Live Communications servers and the Microsoft Exchange servers and its services like Autodiscover, OWA, mail. However, these days the UCC also allows multiple domain names to be secured using a single certificate. The UCC can also be used as an EV SSL and has shown the highest assurance through the green bar.  

Which SSL is good for a website?

Now we come to the most critical question, which is which SSL is right for your website. You must note here that you must ascertain your security needs. If you have a blog site, the DV SSL will be sufficient for you. If you have a website with several sub-domains, you must choose from among the OV Wildcard SSL certificates available. Now, if you need the security for multiple domains, you can select a multi-domain SSL certificate.

Conclusion

Given the increased threat to your website from hackers, you should stay on your guard. You must understand the security needs before choosing the SSL certificate. You must select one based on your security needs and thwart any cyberattack.