Self-Signed SSL Certificate
This is purely for the website owner’s internal purposes and is not issued by the Certificate Authority (CA).
Domain Validated SSL Certificate
A Domain Validated SSL Certificate validates the actual website domain name rather than the domain name’s owner. The CA checks the right of an applicant to use a specific domain name. This information can be viewed when the Secure Site Seal is clicked by the website’s visitor.
Organization Validated SSL Certificate
This is often referred to as the first real online security, as it requires a number of criteria to be authenticated. They are usually confirmation of the actual existence of a business, the authority to apply for a certificate, and the domain ownership. It does take slightly longer to validate and issue.
SGC SSL Certificate
Server-Gated Cryptography (SGC) enables 128- or 256-bit encryption to over 99.9% of website visitors. SSL Certificates support 128-bit or 256-bit encryption; however, older operating systems and browsers are unable to connect at this level of security.
Wildcard Certificate
A Wildcard SSL Certificate provides security to any host of your domain, i.e., when your domain name has a number of suffixes, e.g., hostname.yourdomain.co.za (where the hostname varies but the domain name stays constant).
SAN SSL Certificate
This is a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) SSL Certificate and is similar in concept to a Wildcard SSL, in that it allows multiple domains to be added to a single SSL Certificate.
Code Signing SSL Certificates
This SSL Certificate ensures that downloaded software has not been altered or changed in any way while en route to your server. Often, software is attacked by having viruses or malicious software (malware) attached to them. This certificate ensures that that doesn’t happen.
Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate
This is currently the highest SSL Certificate offered in the industry and provides absolute assurance that all information is valid and secure. If a website is using an EV SSL Certificate, the browser’s address bar will turn green. Please note that this is for high-security level browsers, as some of the older versions may not display this. A field is displayed showing the name of the website owner, the certificate holder, the issuing CA, and the provider of the EV SSL Certificate.