| SSL (Secure Sockets Layer protocol) is a standard for transmitting
confidential data such as credit card numbers over the Internet.
Most true business sites support this feature which allows
more security in data transmitted over the WWW. This is the
standard minimum security level for true business on the Internet.
SSL works by using a private key to encrypt data that is transferred
over the SSL connection. To read more about what is SSL and
how it works, go to http://www.modssl.org/docs/2.8/index.html
You can secure transfer of the confidential data on your site through:
Using the Key and Certificate You Already Have
SSL requires a dedicated IP, because name-based hosting does
not support data encryption in HTTP requests. To enable SSL,
do the following:
- Click SSL on your control panel home page.
- Enable SSL for the domain in the list.
- Agree to charges, if any.
- Enter the SSL Server Private Key and SSL Certificate in
the boxes that appear:
- In the Site Name field, choose whether you want to secure with or without the www prefix.
Only one option will work correctly. For instance, if you choose to secure
http://www.domain.com, your visitors will get security warnings when
they go to http://domain.com.
- Click Submit. Now your site is secured.
Creating a Temporary Certificate
The only difference between temporary and permanent certificates
is that temporary certificates are generated by your control
panel, not by Hosts of America as a trusted Certificate Authority.
Thus, when visitors enter your site, they will get the "unknown certification
authority" warning window.
To generate a new temporary SSL private key and certificate,
do the following:
- Click SSL on your control panel home page.
- Enable SSL for the domain in the list.
- Agree to charges, if any.
- Click the link at the top of the form that appears.
- On the page that appears, confirm your details by clicking
the Submit button:
These data will be used to generate the certificate. Don't
make changes to the data if you are not sure about the purpose
of these changes.
- Follow instructions that appear at the top of the next
page.
- SSL Certificate Signing request. It includes the details
that you submitted on the previous step. Use this request
if you want to get a permanent SSL certificate from a trusted
Certificate Authority (see below).
- SSL Server Private Key. This is the secret key to
decrypt messages from your visitors. It must be stored
in a secure place where it is inaccessible to others.
Don't lose this key, you will need it if you get a permanent
certificate.
- Temporary SSL Certificate. It validates your identity
and confirms the public key to assure the visitors that
they are communicating with your server, not any other
party.
Acquiring a Permanent Certificate
To get a permanent certificate, do the following:
- You must first Generate a temporary SSL certificate (see above).
- Copy the certificate signing request (CSR) and private key for later use.
- Hosts of America is a Certificate Authority for GeoTrust Security Certificates and can issue a
certificate.
- Review Hosts of America security certificate information
- When requested, paste the signing request (CSR) that you have saved.
- Purchase a Hosts of America SSL Certificate.
- You will receive your permanent certificate via e-mail. Upon receiving your permanent certificate proceed to the next step.
- After the permanent SSL Certificate has been generated,
save it to a secure location.
- Click SSL on your control panel home page.
- Go to the Web Service page and click the Edit
icon in the SSL field.
- Enter the certificate into the upper box of the form that
opens and click Upload:
Note: For Equifax, also enter the certificate authority file;
for COMODO.NET, also enter the rootchain certificate (Certificate Chain File).
- Now you can use the certificate jointly with the private
key you have saved.
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