How can I get SSL Certificate for my site?

[Trint Smith]

Or, do I need one? Does Microsoft provide a free one or something?
Thanks,
Trint

..Net programmer
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Joerg Jooss]

Or, do I need one?

Well, that's something you should know. If there's no private and
confidential information to be sent to or received from your site, the
answer is likely no.

Does Microsoft provide a free one or something?

No. Only certificate authorities like Verisign or Thawte issue them, and
these are not for free.

Cheers,

 

[Scott M.]

But if you are running your own certificate server (CA) can't you generate
one yourself?

 

[Scott Allen]

Yes, you can generate your own certificate from a CA. This is a great
way to test with SSL and also works well for Intranet and corporate
applications.

If you are generating certificates for Internet use the downside is a
there will be no trust setup, which is why public sites end up going
through Verisign and Thawte.

--
Scott
http://www.OdeToCode.com

But if you are running your own certificate server (CA) can't you generate
one yourself?

 

[Trint Smith]

I'm not running DiscountASP.Net and I want to run credit card
verification program on my site...But even on Microsoft.com, I don't see
Verisign...they have their own.
Thanks,
Trint

..Net programmer
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Dan Brussee]

There are two main reasons for having SSL.

1. Encryption to / from the site of data being passed.
2. Certifying that you are who you say you are.

Item 2 is the more difficult, and is not provided by the default
certificate you can produce yourself. Thawte and others do an
exhaustive validation check to make sure that the web site that
contains the SSL certificate is who they say they are. Therefore, as
long as you agree that Thawte has checked enough, and as long as
Thawte says you are the real deal, the user can feel assured that you
are the real deal. This lets them be comfortable when they supply
their credit card that they are not dealing with a forged site, etc.
Of course it is possible that they will not even check, but that's
beside the point.

I assume Microsoft feels that if they say they are Microsoft, you can
trust them <smile>

Dan

 

[Trint Smith]

Are there any "free" ones? I mean, that are recognized as good?
Thanks,
Trinity

..Net programmer
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Dan Brussee]

Considering the amount of effort necessary to truely confirm your
identity, I would expect to pay something. I do think that the over
200 dollar per year fee is a bit over the top since all the work is
done up front, and virtually nothing needs to be done on subsequent
renewals... no?

 

[Trint Smith]

I've looked at some prices and freessl.com is not really "free", but is
much less than thawte and verisign.
Thanks,
Trint

..Net programmer
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Joerg Jooss]

But if you are running your own certificate server (CA) can't you
generate one yourself?

As Scott Allen already pointed out, this is good for testing, but I had the
impression Trint wanted the real deal ;-)

And it requires a Windows 200x server installation, of course.

Cheers,