TACWeb SSL Secure Server

SSL stands for "Secure Socket Layer" which allows your customer to submit critical information, like credit card numbers. All information submitted using a Secure Socket Layer is scrambled using an encryption technology that requires a unique "Key" to read. The key is generated for a specific company and is authorized and issued from companies like Verisign. The key is called a Digital ID, Secure Keys or SSL Certificate and is installed on the server hosting the website/domain name. There are many forms and uses of Digital IDs including securing websites for submission of credit card information and securing email messaging.

Although you can securely receive credit card information through SSL, actual processing of the credit card will require a "Merchant Account" from an financial institution or by an online merchant service.

2 Ways to Utilize SSL:

Option A
Use TACWeb's ShopNet Mall SSL digital certificate. All TAC's Full-Service clients are entitled to use our ShopNet Mall Secure Server at no additional charge. Websites using their own service or one of our basic hosting plans can add a secure page to their site for just $7.50 per month. The ShopNet Mall secure server will allow you to have secure pages in your website without incurring any of the trouble or expense of getting your own digital certificate (see Option 2 below). When accessing your secure pages however, the ShopNet Mall domain name will appear in the secure URL, ie: https://www.shopnetmall.com/www.yourcompany.com/order.html

Option B
Obtain your own Digital Certificate from Verisign. This will allow you to reference a secure URL using your own domain name like https://www.yourcompany.com/orderform.html. You must obtain your own digital certificate if you prefer your own domain name in the secure URL. To do so you must submit the proper paperwork and setup fee as designated by Verisign. Once you have qualified for the digital certificate, our technical staff will work with Verisign to install your digital ID on our server for your domain.

There is a one-time setup fee of $100 to setup your Digital ID Certificate on our server. Plus the current fee from Verisign for a Domestic Server Certificate is $349.00. There is also a yearly renewal application and fee that must be submitted and a new digital ID that needs to be installed each year. The renewal fee from Verisign is currently $249, plus the setup fee for installing your renewed Digital ID of $25.00.

Contact TAC for more information or to get your Digital Certificate for your website. TACWeb is a Verisign SSL Partner and can help with the application and installation process. You can also go to Verisign's website at http://www.verisign.com for more information.

Setting up and linking to a SSL secure web page:

Links to secure pages start with https instead of http. The "s" in https:// indicates the secure socket.

• https://www.shopnetmall.com/www.yourcompany.com/order.html
  -or-
• https://www.your-domain.com/orderform.html
  (if you have your own digital certificate)

All elements used on the secure page must come from the secure server or the viewer will receive an security warning message when they visit the secure page.

Retrieving Data From a Secure Server

SSL encryption secures any information submitted between web browser and web server. However, if the secure form then emails the information to your email address, the resulting email message that gets sent from our computers to you is not encrypted and therefore not secure.

One way to solve this problem is to have a script written to save the submitted form content to a text file. In so doing, you can reference the text via secure URL and retrieve its content (e.g. credit card information) securely via the web thus completing the loop. To protect the data from unauthorized web surfers, you can store the data file(s) in a password protected directory.

An alternative is to have the submitted form content sent to you via e-mail. E-mail messages are not secure, unless Secure Email is setup using a Secure Key that is installed on the TACWeb email server, and a Key that is installed on the client's email software. A popular third-party encryption program is available called PGP.