Writing SSL (Secure Certificate) Web Pages
One of the most common questions asked by people new to SSL is, "How do I use SSL to send a credit card number securely?"
The answer to this question is surprisingly straightforward -- assuming that you have a web server that is cryptographically enabled.
The whole point of SSL is to hide the complexities of cryptography from both users and developers.
If your users are using an SSL-aware web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you can instruct the browser to create an encrypted connection to you server simply by replacing the "http" in your URLs with "https".
For example, say you have a proprietary document located at this URL:
http:// www.company.com/document.html
Yours users can obtain the document securely by requesting this URL:
https:// www.company.com/document.html
Likewise, if you have a CGI form which allows people to submit sensitive information (such as a credit card number), you can force the information to be submitted cryptographically by simply modifying the "action=" clause in your HTML file, again changing the "http:" to "https:.
For example, if the "
Just change it to look like this:
<form method=post action="https:// cu.imt.net/cgi-bin/enter">
SSL Certificate Procedure
Internet Montana has a Certificate from VeriSign.
In order for this to function, you should use the URL of "https://cu.imt.net/~username/" instead of "http://www.imt.net/~username/".
For example, if your URL is "http://www.imt.net/~username/", change it to "https://cu.imt.net/~username/".
Both of these URLs point to the same server.
If you are using a personal virtual domain, then change your "https://www.mydomain.com/" to "https://cu.imt.net/~username/".
You do not lose the advantage of your personal domain since the requirement for secure pages generally occurs within your web page structure.
If you do not use "cu.imt.net", the SSL security features will still operate; however, your users will get a message indicating an invalid certificate.
If you require your own certificate, it can be purchased from VeriSign and we will install it on our server.
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