SSL247 Ratings - Making it Easy for you to Compare SSL Certificates

At SSL247, we like to make it as easy as possible for our customers to choose the SSL certificate that’s right for them. Our ratings mean you can do an SSL comparison at a glance.

So, when you are checking out different SSL certificates, be sure to take note of the ‘SSL247 rating’ – it could save you a lot of time.

How do we rate our SSL certificates?
We score all our SSL certificates against the six most important measures of SSL security. That’s security for your site, your visitors and customers and your business. These are:

• The SSL brand
• Validation method
• SGC technology
• Re-issuance insurance
• The quality of the site seal
• Mobile compatibility

The SSL brand – 10 points available

If your visitors feel confident in your site, they’re more likely to shop on it or share confidential information via it. Brand is the biggest factor in customer confidence. 

Take the travel site, Opodo for instance. Just from displaying the VeriSign name on their payment pages, their sales rose by 10%. That’s the power of brand. It enhances confidence and increases sales.

But it’s not just about sales. Your choice of SSL brand can also have an effect on your email signups, lead generations and your other conversion rates.

The older a Certificate Authority (CA) – and the more SSL certificates it has issued – the better its brand recognition. Likewise the CA whose certificates are used on the most prestigious sites will get a rub-off effect – and that enhances their (and your) brand power.

All our CAs are well established and well trusted. In fact, the brands we sell are the most trusted names on the internet.

Here’s how our Certificate Authorities shape up in terms of brand power:

• VeriSign = 10/10 (The most trusted SSL brand in the world)
• Thawte = 7/10
• Geotrust = 5/10
• GlobalSign = 3/10
• RapidSSL = 1/10 (The only entry-level SSL brand from a stock-exchange listed CA)

Validation method – 4 points available
The more complete your validation method, the more secure your site and your visitors – and the better the protection against phishing attacks. Your choice of validation can also increase or decrease confidence in your site – and your business.

Take Extended Validation for example. People who visit your site will see it is secure in an instant. They’ll also see your business is trustworthy, because your company’s name will be displayed in the ‘green bar of trust’ in their web browser. Now, let’s take Domain Validation. People who visit your site will see that it is secure, because of your site seal and the padlock symbol in their browser, but they won’t know your business is legitimate.

Here’s how our validation methods shape up:

• Extended validation = 4/4 (The most advanced form of validation. EV shows your site is secure and your business is trustworthy by displaying the ‘green bar of trust’ in your visitors’ browsers. It also offers the best protection against phishing attacks).
• Organisation validation = 2/4 (Although the ‘green bar of trust’ is missing, Organisation Validation still proves that your site and your business is genuine. It also offers protection against phishing attacks).
• Domain validation = 1/4 (The most basic form of validation. DV gives encryption only – and little or no protection against phishing attacks).
  

SGC technology – 2 points available
SGC will protect all your site visitors with the strongest levels of encryption available, guaranteeing a minimum of 128 bit, even with older browsers that try and connect at weak 40 or 56 bit levels. Without SGC, you’ll leave your visitors with older browsers open to unsecure, weak encryption.

Here’s how SGC technology is scored:

• SGC = 2/2 (a minimum of 128 bit encryption – and up to 256 bit)
• No SGC = 0/2 (encryption can be as low as 40 bit, but up to 256 bit)

Re-issuance insurance – 1 point available
Imagine that you’ve just bought a SSL certificate and while you are installing it, something goes wrong and you lose your SSL. That’s what happens to a lot of our customers, particularly those with IIS machines where problems like this are much more common. Others sometimes lose their certificates during server failures, backup of private keys, moving servers or changing hosts or simply forgetting their passwords. Whatever the reason, it’s annoying. Luckily, with most of our certificates, you’ll get a new one reissued free of charge. But some, the RapidSSL for instance, don’t come with re-issuance insurance. That means there’s only one solution to a lost SSL certificate… to buy a new one.

Here’s how re-issuance insurance is scored:

• Reissuable = 1/1 (safeguards your SSL investment and gives you peace of mind)
• Not reissuable = 0/1 (can’t be re-issued if your SSL is lost)

Site seal – 1 point available

Even the site seal that comes free with your certificate says something about your site. The more advanced the better. Site seals with the date and time and your company’s name embedded within them will feel more secure to your customers than the more basic site seals.

Here’s how site seals are scored:

• Advanced = 1/1 (your site seal is dynamic and contains more detailed information)
• Basic = 0/1 (your site seal simply contains the name of the CA that secures your site)

Mobile compatibility – 1 point available
So, you want to secure your website and protect your visitors and customers, but does the certificate you are thinking about buying protect them however they access your site?

With more and more people accessing the internet from mobile devices like Smartphones, PDAs and Blackberry handhelds, mobile compatibility is a must. 

Here’s how mobile compatibility is scored:

• Mobile compatible = 1/1
• Not mobile compatible = 0/1

The final SSL247 rating
All the scores for each individual measure of security are added up to give a total SSL247 rating out of 19.

19/19 is the world’s best SSL certificate – the VeriSign Secure Site Pro EV