Computer programming and networking tends to have a lot of long, difficult words, or sometimes simple words strung together to make long phrases. By shortening these important phrases, it makes it easier to note their existence or absence. 

By learning these terms, you can become one of the people “in the know” and you will have a more complete understanding of what your computer is doing. If you are a technologist who is working with lay people, explaining these terms could make it easier to explain to your organization members why they are important. 

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is a method of encrypting, then decrypting data between a client machine and a server. As you might guess with the word “secure” involved, this is a method of helping ensure the confidentiality of important information such as your business documents, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and personal information such as your social security number, or even the contents of an email that might be part of a critical conversation. 

Without SSL, it would be far too easy for hackers and pirates to access your information. SSL is trusted technology that has been around since before 2000.

SSL comes in three types: 

• Standard: Indicated by the initials DV which stands for Domain Validation. This is the lowest level of security and is often used for blogs and for personal websites.
• Organization: Indicated by OV, which stands for Organizational Validation, and is often used by businesses and non-profit organizations. It is slightly more secure than DV.
• Extended Validation: EV or Extended Validation is the highest level of security and is used by Folderit and better e-commerce companies, especially those who take their customers’ security seriously. It is an important part of protecting your information and that of your clients or organization members. 

When managing a business, it is important to use the right level of security for each function. For most businesses, because they handle payments in one form or another, EV SSL is the preferred level of encryption. But since it is the biggest hassle and most expensive to get, it’s also the rarest of the three types.

EV SSL is highly recommended for businesses or organizations that enact monetary transactions or that handle personal or business information. The long way to gain EV SSL is to first install a Secure Sockets program on your server. Next, you’ll need to update your website’s code to use HTTPS. That stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. You have probably seen a prefix like that when logging onto your banking or credit card website. The ownership of the domain then needs to be validated by the issuer of the certficate — so it would be certain the company is really behind it.

In today’s information-saturated environment, almost any information can be sensitive. This can include personal information, intellectual property of all kinds, and (of course) any information that will affect monetary transactions. 

That is why companies that handle other people’s information, such as Folderit, use EV SSL as their default protocol. The extended validation provides the means to protect information, provide secure logins, and to allow a platform that supports authorized users. When it comes to protecting user data, we take our part very seriously. We don’t need to look at your information, but keeping it safe for you is our business.