How do you know when a site has been secured?

There are 2 important clues you should look for when trying to establish whether the website you are visiting has been secured.

The Padlock

If you see the padlock in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser status bar you know that a digital certificate has been installed onto this website and that SSL encryption is in place. This means that information being transmitted between your Web Browser and the Web Server you are connected to on the Internet is safe from being tampered with.

The thawte Trusted Site Seal

Once an e-business has obtained a thawte SSL Web Server or SGC SuperCert, it is supplied with an authentic thawte Trusted Site Seal. The thawte Trusted Site Seal is a secure image appearing on a website that allows visitors to tell at a glance that their information can be securely transmitted.

By clicking on this, visitors will get real-time confirmation of the validity of the certificate. The thawte Trusted Site Seal pop-up will verify the details of the business behind the certificate:

• Organization name
• Domain name
• Country
• Status of the certificate
• Verification and expiry dates of the certificate

The thawte Trusted Site Seal is your visible, real-time assurance of trust.

Tell me about SSL and digital certificates?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a security protocol developed by Netscape for managing the security of online message transmission. SSL encrypts or scrambles any information sent from your browser to the server you are connected to, making it impossible to intercept and tamper with the information on the way.

The way that SSL is implemented is via a digital certificate. Digital certificates guarantee the security of the connection between the browser and the server.

Certification Authorities

Certification Authorities (CAs) are independent bodies that are authorized to issue and sign digital certificates. As part of the process of signing digital certificates, CAs validate the information to be contained in the digital certificate according to their own Certificate Practice Statements (CPS)* before issuing the certificate.

The difference a thawte SSL Web Server and SGC SuperCert makes

thawte SSL Web Server certificates and SGC SuperCerts offer highest level authentication and verification procedures. This is crucial for businesses that wish to send a message to visitors that they (the businesses) have been thoroughly vetted by a highly trusted independent authority. These certificates therefore serve the dual purposes of protecting information (via SSL) and ensuring that communication is taking place with exactly who one thinks it is... all independently verified by one of the most respected Certification Authorities globally.

Fraudulent use of the thawte Trusted Site Seal

There have been cases of fraudulent use of the thawte Trusted Site Seal and if you would like to report any abuse, send an e-mail to abuse@thawte.com .

Look out for the following to identify abuse of the thawte Trusted Site Seal:

• The date displayed on the thawte Trusted Site Seal is incorrect
• The site does not own a digital certificate
• The information on the thawte Trusted Site Seal Information Page does not match the information of the site
• When the thawte Trusted Site Seal is clicked, there is no information page that pops-up.
• There have been illegal modifications to the thawte Trusted Site Seal