SSL Encryption For Smartphones

Most of the business owners are working towards the development of their websites so that it can be viewed on each device; tablets, smartphones, desktops, etc. If business owners fail to provide such compatible websites, they will end up losing a large portion of revenue. On the other hand, CA’s (Certification Authorities) are concerned about smartphone security and are working on the solutions that are compatible with every existing version of a website. Majority of CA vendors have adopted such technologies by now, like:

1. Use of ‘mobile code signing credentials’ to keep hackers away
2. Some of the CA vendors have also implemented SSL certificate to meet security issues
3. Digital Signatures (still in beta stage)

SSL Certificate For Smartphones

Working of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is the same for every computing device. Let it be smartphone, tablet or desktop; SSL certificate in each case solves the purpose of providing Internet security. With SSL certificate, smartphone users can enjoy optimal protection while surfing the internet but this is only applicable if the certificate is compatible with the smartphone you are using else the user will receive an error message. Note that the certificates that support microbrowsers are compatible with smartphones and around 99% of the SSL certificates are smartphone compatible.

Using SSL Certificate For Smartphones

SSL certificate is mandatory for website security as it helps in protecting data (private, sensitive and important information) from unknown and unauthorized third parties. When indulged in online business, customer’s security should be the priority and if your website is secure enough it will encourage your customers to transact with your company. This will not only help you retain customers but also build customer loyalty and business goodwill.

The Key Points To Secure Online Transactions Are:

SSL secure Site seal: It is a visual stamp and is displayed on the home page of the website. This site seal signifies security, credibility, and reliability. Secured transactions and data security are indicated by displaying it on the website. In other words, we can say that it is safe to transmit your personal data on the sites having ‘SSL secure site seal’.

Green address bar: EV green address bar is enabled for every site that has an Extended Validation SSL certificate. This green address bar gives visual assurance of Internet security. This helps in gaining the trust of customers and also affects the conversion rate of the site.

High level of encryption: Algorithms are used to encrypt data, which is then transferred through an encrypted link to provide high-level security. Encryption algorithm converts data into a non-readable form, which is not easy to understand, which further makes data transfer via Internet secure.

SSL certificate for security and data transfer is beneficial for both, the customer as well as the online merchant. Beside SSL certificate security, most of CA vendors also provide technical support and back up (in some cases) which helps in enhancing security protection level.

How Does SSL Connection Work

SSL certificate is a small data file that contains data like organization name, country name, a primary domain, sub-domains, expiration data, CA etc, which is provided by the owner of a website at the time of loading SSL certificate. In return, a single IP address is issued to that website, which in turn serves main domain as well as linked sub-domains. It means that it will not only provide internet security to the main domain but also, to other sub-domains which are linked with the main domain.

It is important to know that every single browser can interact with the secure web server; all it requires to have a secure connection between the two is SSL Certificate, which can be easily downloaded from the internet by simply following the instructions and filling some details required.

Need for SSL Connection
In normal cases, data is transferred or shared in simple text form, which gives an advantage to hackers to misuse or modify it easily, which is a big security threat. To overcome this, SSL provides an encrypted link, which converts the data into a non-readable form, and then this encrypted data is transferred between the server and the browser through a secure link that nullifies the risk of data being hacked. To get this kind of security, all you need is the SSL Certificate.

How SSL Certificate Provides Security

SSL certificate has a pair of keys; one is a public key and another one is a private key. To establish a secure/encrypted connection, these keys work together. This certificate also contains the identity of the owner and in technical language, it is known as SUBJECT. CSR (Certificate Signing Request) must be created to get an SSL certificate, which in return creates a set of keys (public and private key). Then CSR data file that contains public key is sent to CA (Certificate Authority). This data file is used for creating a data structure to match private key but due to security reasons, CA can never see the private key.

Once the certificate is issued by CA, install it on your server. When the installation of SSL certificate is complete, this server certificate is connected with CAs certificate in order to establish reliability and credibility of SSL certificate. It is important to buy an SSL certificate from an authorized or trusted Certificate Authority (CA) because most of the browsers come with a pre-installed list of trusted CAs and will only acknowledge them. So the user can trust the site with Comodo SSL certificate and can feel free to share private and sensitive information required by that particular site

Do the Advanced Features Of Smartphones To Protect your Privacy

As the use of smartphones is increasing, it has become important to protect the data, which is stored in it and more importantly to maintain your privacy. We need to save our smartphones from hackers, malicious software and intruders, especially in the cases where your phone is stolen or lost.

When we buy a smartphone, it comes with some inbuilt features and by using these advanced settings, one can keep the information and data secure but along with it, we also need to keep following security features in mind:

• Software updates: Every Company tries to update their software on a regular interval, so it is important to update your smartphone and install updated software whenever it is available in order to protect it from hackers.

• Application installation: New exciting applications are launched on a daily basis by someone or the other, but be careful before downloading any application as most of them ask for permissions to have the access to your files, pictures, etc. There are high chances of data being misused in such cases. So it is advisable to read the reviews of the application before installing them in your smartphone.

• Security Application: When we install more than one application in our phone, it becomes very hard to understand and overview which application is granted with what kind of permission that might hinder internet security. But there are quite a few good security applications available for smartphones that can help in such situations like McAfee. These security tools can alert you against applications which might contain the virus.

• Passcodes: Passcodes are a very common technique used nowadays to protect your phone from being misused. Passcodes can be 4 to 6-digit passwords, fingerprints, face recognition or any pattern. Although this method is not 100% secure, it is a simpler way to protect your phone from unauthorized access. Best way to make optimum use of this feature is keeping your phone locked when not using it. Tracking phone application: Few mobile companies also provide features like tracking your phone, erasing data if the phone is stolen, locking the phone if many unsuccessful attempts are made while entering the passcode and so on. All these methods help in protecting the data from falling in wrong hands. Individual application lock: As discussed above, Passcode is not the best security technique, so it is a good idea to use a passcode or lock for every single application, which contains personal information, or important data, which will act as a second layer of security.

• Tracking phone application: Few mobile companies also provide features like tracking your phone, erasing data if the phone is stolen, locking the phone if many unsuccessful attempts are made while entering a passcode and so on. All these methods help in protecting the data from falling in wrong hands.

• Individual application lock: As discussed above, Passcode is not the best security technique, so it is a good idea to use a passcode or lock for every single application, which contains personal information, or important data, which will act as a second layer of data security.

Protection For Big Data Through SSL Certificates

Today, Data is considered to be driving the world, so it becomes important to secure it from middle-men attack. This type of data security or internet security can be attained by installing SSL certificates. Depending upon nature of the business, choose the certificate that will fulfill your business requirements, but it is important to buy SSL certificate form authorized CA.

As big data is gathered and transferred over the Internet, it is important to secure it from falling into wrong hands. To maintain data integrity and security, an SSL certificate plays an important role as it encrypts data and transfers it through an encrypted connection. SSL certificate not only secures main domain but can also provide security to sub-domains depending upon your choice of SSL certificate.

SSL Certificate:

Secure Socket Layer is an internet security protocol, which ensures the integrity and security of data being transferred over the web. Whereas SSL certificate provides secure encrypted communication between server and web browser. It is basically a small data file that digitally binds a key to an organization’s details that is installed on a web server. On installing it activates the padlock and https:// protocol, which ensures a safe and secure connection.

Importance of Encryption:

Data encryption is nothing but a translator. It translates data to be transferred into non-readable form. The Only person having decryption key can access the data by making use of the secret key (also known as the decryption key). Encryption is important as it securely protects sensitive data such as:

Emails
Chat history
Tax information
Credit card number
Social security number and so on

Let sharing be between two organizations or between businesses and users; whatever the case is, it is important to share data in a secured form to protect it from the man-in-middle attack. To maintain integrity and security of data being transferred, Secure Socket Layers (commonly known as SSL) are employed.

To maintain data integrity and security, an SSL certificate plays an important role as it encrypts data and transfers it through an encrypted connection. SSL certificate not only secures main domain but can also provide security to sub-domains depending upon your choice of SSL certificate.

Facebook Built A Tool To Detect Rogue SSL Certificates

Facebook Detect Rogue SSL Certificate:-There are cases when domain owners have been issued TLS/SSL certificates without their consent. Facebook has successfully launched a tool with the help of which the owner can find out such certificates. This can be done by using data which is being collected from many Certificate Transparency (CT) logs. These logs are publicly accessible. As per the CT standard, every Certificate Authority (CA) is required to disclose the certificates that they issue.

As all the CAs around the world do not adopt CT, web security cannot be achieved a 100%. It is important to make it compulsory for all the CAs to adopt Certificate Transparency (CT). Google is the first one to take a drastic step by making CT mandatory in the Chrome browser after Oct 1, 2017. Certificate issued after this date without CT log will not be trusted by Chrome.

Facebook built a tool to detect rogue SSL certificates

Facebook had a good understanding of the importance of adapting CT and decided to build a tool for the public. This tool would help other companies to keep track of SSL certificate issues for their domains. With the help of this tool

The Domain owner can detect a miss-issued certificate within an hour

• Keep track of existing certificates being used
• An Owner can subscribe to receive email alerts when a new certificate appears in CT logs

In case you receive an alert on CA issuing certificate that you have not requested, follow these steps:

• Contact concerned CA, who issued the certificate
• Make sure that your identity is not compromised
• Consider revoking that certificate

How Facebook’s tool is helpful for domain

Facebook has come up with a tool to make it easier for domain owner (or security team) to search and keep track of certificates associated with their domain through CT logs. CT maintains logs listing SSL certificates, which are publicly accessible. CT framework outlines various rules and procedures, such as:

• How CAs and domain owners submit records of TLS certificates to public logs.
• Audit the logs to ensure the certificates are properly added.
• Monitor the logs to look for new entries.

Various threats CT addresses are

• Mis-issued certificates
• Stolen certificates
• Rogue certificate authorities

From all the public CT logs, this tool fetches data periodically; it is then synced before performing ‘user-supplied query’. Whenever a new entry in the synced list is detected, users will receive an email notification. There are no restrictions on usage of this tool, so anyone can use it to search for logs for any domain.