=== SSL Overview === \\ == Certificate == The SSL certificate contains information about the certificate: \\ - Domain Name(s) \\ - Public Key \\ - Company \\ - Issue Date \\ - Expiry Date \\ - Issuer \\ And more \\ \\ Client encrypts their messages with a public key supplied by the website that ONLY the server can decrypt with their private key \\ NOTE: This private key needs to be stored in a safe location on the server with the correct permissions and so it is NOT accessible by anyone outside the server \\ \\ == Step 2 == To prevent a 'man-in-the-middle' attack on the certificate, this cert is cryptographically signed by someone else's private key so that the signature can be verified by anyone who has the corresponding public key. \\ == Certificate Authorities == Certificate Authorities (CA) sells their private key as a service to sign certificates for companies. \\ A private key from a vendor such as 'Thawte', 'Verisign' etc can be used as nobody else can gain access to this key. NO one can forge their signature.