Types of SSL Certificates and Their Features

SSL certificates play a key role in online security and trust. They protect data transmitted between users and websites and help verify a website's identity and legitimacy. Their functionality and level of trust can vary significantly by type. Understanding these differences is important when choosing a certificate for your website. This article covers the main types of SSL certificates and their features to help you make an informed choice.

Self-Signed Certificates

Description: These certificates are signed on the company's own server and are not validated by a certificate authority.

Features: Browsers display an insecure-connection warning when visiting the website because the certificate's authenticity has not been verified.

Certificates Signed by a Certificate Authority

• DV (Domain Validation)
  
  Description: These certificates verify domain ownership only and enable data encryption.
  
  Features: This is the basic certificate type, suitable for any company and the least expensive option.
  
  
• OV (Organization Validation)
  
  Description: Certificates that confirm the existence of an organisation.
  
  Features: Suitable for legal entities and offering an intermediate level of trust.
  
  
• EV (Extended Validation)
  
  Description: Certificates subject to the strictest validation, confirming legitimacy and domain rights.
  
  Features: Provide a high level of protection and require a thorough validation process.
  
  

Wildcard Certificates

Description: These certificates secure domains and all their subdomains.

Features: Convenient when you have several subdomains under one domain.

SAN (Subject Alternative Name) Certificates

Description: Cover only the domains listed in the certificate.

Features: Suitable for websites that manage several domains and want to secure them with a single certificate.

For a simple website, a free certificate may be sufficient, for example from Cloudflare or Let’s Encrypt. However, if a website collects personal data or handles online transactions, a validated certificate is preferable to maximise data protection and users' confidence in the connection.