Have you noticed a padlock symbol beside the URL of your website? It comes mostly when you visit sites where you buy things and make payments. It is also seen on the sites of your banks and other financial institutions. You will notice that many times the address bar becomes green. Also you may notice that the prefix of website addresses that are normally http becomes https.

These things indicate that the site has SSL certificate. Sites that have activated SSL certificate are more secure and protected against hacking. They are able to protect and enable financial transactions over the internet.

As you know, the data we send and receive online can be viewed by people with even a bit of serious computer knowledge. In such cases, it is not safe to send information about your credit card and its password. Sites with SSL certificate are secure and ensure that the passwords and other sensitive information are kept discreet.

SSL is short for Secure Socket Locker. Such sites have to acquire SSL certificate which is vetted and approved by a Certification Authority that has the necessary credentials. Having SSL indicates that the web browser will check to validate that the SSL certificate is valid. While there are many levels of SSL certificates, the green address bar indicates an industry-leading 2048-bit encryption. Normal Domain and Organizational SSL certificate can provide adequate security across various browsers and devices.

Sometimes a site with SSL certificate may indicate error if the computer you are using shows the wrong year. Most SSL certificates are valid only for the current year. Errors in coding or graphics can also lead to error messages indicating insecure items. Older versions of browsers too have a problem in recognizing the newer providers of certification. SSL Certificate is a trend that is bound to grow and soon it can become mandatory for every site to have one.