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Why use server certificates? What does a web server SSL cert do?

April 26, 2017CERT certificates server SSL web server

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Why use server certificates? What does a web server SSL cert do?

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When you connect to a secure web server such as https://www.ssl.com you ask that server to authenticate itself. This authentication is quite a complex process involving public keys, private keys and a digital certificate. The certificate tells you that an independent third party has agreed that the server belongs to the company it claims to belong to. A valid certificate means that you can have confidence that you are sending information to the right place.