Securing Connections with SSL Certificates

If your website transfers private data, for example, visitors' credit card numbers, we recommend that you use the SSL secure channel for this website. To set up such a channel, you should purchase an SSL certificate for your website.

SSL certificates are used not only for establishing secure communication channels on the Internet but also for verifying a website's identity as well. When users visit your secure online store, they are notified that your website is really what it claims to be and that all sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, will be transferred over a secure channel.

SSL certificates are issued by specific organizations - SSL certificate providers. However, some hosting providers allow customers to purchase SSL certificates directly from Plesk.

Purchasing SSL Certificates

Depending on your hosting provider, you can have the following ways of purchasing SSL certificates:

• Order an SSL certificate from Plesk. This way is available to you if your provider configures the corresponding Plesk settings. The links for purchasing SSL certificates from Plesk may let your purchase certificates either from your provider in their online store or from Parallels in the MyPlesk outlet. To learn how to order an SSL certificate through Plesk, see the section Purchasing SSL Certificates through Plesk.
• Order an SSL certificate from the SSL certificate provider you like. In this case, you should create a certificate signing request (CSR) for your website in Plesk and submit it to an SSL certificate provider. To learn how to create such request and purchase a certificate with it, refer to the section Generating Certificate Signing Requests.

Securing Websites

After you obtain a certificate for your website, you should secure the connection to the website with the certificate. The section Securing Websites explains how to do this.

Securing Websites with Shared SSL Certificates

On Windows systems, you may be able to secure your websites without purchasing your own SSL certificates. This feature is available to you if your hosting provider offers shared SSL certificates. The section Using Shared SSL Certificates (Windows) explains how to secure a website with a shared SSL certificate.