Different validation methods
When looking at SSL certificates, you’ll discover that they have a few different types of validation. Consider the following scenario:
DV is a fictional character (Domain validation)
OVV (Organization validation)
EV is an acronym for “electric vehicle” (Extended validation)
The encryption protection provided by these certificates is same; however, the validation necessary to grant them to your site differs.
The validation method explains how the issuing Certificate Authority verifies the certificate. This guarantees that the site to which it is being supplied is legitimate and has permission to use it.
Domain validation
These contain GreggHost’s Let’s Encrypt certificate as well as the Sectigo DV certificate.
Only the domain name is used to validate these certificates. As a result, when examining the certificate, the name of your website is not included. Either certificate can be added by anyone with admin credentials to the website’s panel. The certificate is automatically added after you add it to the panel.
Smaller sites that do not exchange sensitive information should use these certificates. This would include the following:
personal websites, blogs, forums
Although they provide the same level of encryption as OV certs, these certificates do not include the actual site name, making it impossible for users to verify the certificate by looking at it. Furthermore, these may be subject to phishing assaults. For example, a malevolent user could build a falsified clone of your online store by creating a comparable site with a DV certificate. These are not advised for eCommerce sites that process payment information for these reasons.
Organizational validation
These verify everything a (DV) does, as well as additional organizational information about the person buying the certificate, such as their name, city, state, and country. The certificate also includes the name of the organization. This provides visitors with an additional layer of trust by allowing them to verify the website’s and company’s legitimacy.
(OV) certificates may require the user to reply with a verification code to an email. However, how the DCV procedure verifies the certificate is a factor. For a complete list of steps, see the following article:
How can I get an SSL certificate that is signed by a professional?
These certificates can be used to process payments on eCommerce sites.
Extended validation certificates
Visitors will have the most faith in EV certificates because they require the most information to be evaluated before being granted to the site.
When viewing the site, they can be identified by the green URL bar that appears in the browser. This is a brief visual indication to the user that the site they’re visiting has taken the necessary precautions to ensure that the site they’re visiting is safe. Bestbuy.com is an example of a site with this type of certificate:
https://www.bestbuy.com/
These certificates are not currently available from GreggHost.
What type of certificate should I use for my eCommerce site?
For your eCommerce website, you can use either a ‘Let’s Encrypt’ or a professionally-signed ‘Sectigo’ certificate. Both choices encrypt the connection with an RSA 4096 bit key, thus the security is the same.
The sole distinction is that a purchased ‘Sectigo’ certificate contains the name of the company in the certificate information. Customers may perceive this additional validation as more trustworthy, which is why this type is recommended for eCommerce sites.