SSL Certificates - Explain the Significance of Extended Validation to Your Web Site Visitors

You have chosen an EV SSL Certificate because it builds confidence in your Web site visitors when they visit you. Internet users who use the latest high-security Web browsers will see the confidence inspiring green browser address bar when they visit your Web site.

There is a natural positive psychological impact when a person sees the green address bar. Green means go to most of us thanks to the international standard for traffic lights. Some end users may already realize that there is significance to a Web site that displays the EV user interface features but they may wish to know more. Some users may not yet understand the significance of the EV green bar. Regardless of your customers’ current level of understanding, it only increases your reputation as an organization that places a priority on the security of your customers if you provide more information about the Extended Validation standard for authentication.

EV Explanations

There are a number of places on your Web site where you may place an explanation of Extended Validation and what it means. VeriSign’s User Experience Testing Group found that the closer you get your link explaining EV to the green browser address bar, the more likely customers will look at it. We recommend including a link at the very top of each EV- secured page which reads: “Why has my browser address bar turned green?” You can also link to this explanatory text from the EV Protected icon or any other security related link within your Web site. This page provides you with explanatory copy blocks of various lengths to match the specific requirement for any customer communication. Feel free to use this copy on your site and also include it in offline customer communications such as direct marketing, invoicing, account statements, or advertising. The copy blocks below are live HTML text, complete in some cases with graphics and helpful links to additional information. We recommend copying them directly into the appropriate place on your Web site to ensure that all links work correctly.

25 word EV explanation
50 word EV explanation
120 word EV explanation
Full page EV explanation

Thank you for choosing to secure your Web site with an Extended Validation SSL Certificate from VeriSign. We hope these resources prove useful in maximizing the value you get from your EV SSL Certificate.

25 Word Explanation

You are visiting a Web page secured with Extended Validation (EV) SSL, the highest standard in the Internet security industry for Web site identity authentication.

50 Word Explanation

120 Word Explanation

We use Extended Validation (EV) SSL, the highest standard in the Internet security industry for Web site authentication, to secure your online transaction with us. EV SSL signifies that our organization has passed a rigorous identity authentication process. The EV SSL Certificate will trigger your browser address to display https:// and if you use a browser released in 2007 or later (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7) your address bar will turn a noticeable green color. To the right of the address bar, a field will display the name of the organization that owns this Web site and this field will toggle to display VeriSign, the certificate authority that issued this SSL Certificate. When you see your address bar turn green, simply look to the right to see that the owner of this Web site is the organization you intended to visit.

Full Page Explanation

This Web site is secured with an Extended Validation SSL Certificate.

Consider replacing this green bar screen image with one containing your Web URL.

What does this mean?

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates are the standard method used on the Internet to secure communications between Web users and Web sites. This technology both authenticates the identity of a Web site and encrypts communications between the user and the Web site.

Extended Validation SSL is a new type of SSL Certificate. A consortium of Internet security experts (Certificate Authority/Browser Forum) including VeriSign created Extended Validation (EV) SSL to combat the growing epidemic of fraudulent Web activity known as phishing. Phishing is a technique used by criminals on the Web to trick Web users into revealing sensitive personal and financial information to a counterfeit Web site. These phishing sites look like a familiar Web site but they are only a fraudulent front for criminal activity. It can be very difficult to differentiate a phishing Web site from the legitimate Web site. This threat has made it more important than ever for Web sites to be authenticated as genuine by a trusted third party before users share information with them.

For over a decade SSL Certificates have served to authenticate Web sites, however not all SSL Certificates provide the same level of authentication. Some highly authenticate a site and some merely verify that the organization requesting the certificate has the right to use their stated Internet domain address. EV SSL Certificates represent the highest standard for authentication. They require that every Web site secured with EV SSL pass a standardized process for rigorously verifying the legitimacy of the organization responsible for that Web site.

We use Extended Validation (EV) SSL to secure your online transaction with us because we take your online security very seriously. EV SSL signifies that our organization has passed the strict EV identity authentication process. Our EV SSL Certificate will trigger your browser address bar to display https:// and if you use a browser released in 2007 or later (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7) your address bar will turn a noticeable green color. To the right of the address bar, a field will display the name of the organization that owns this Web site and this field will toggle to display VeriSign, the industry-leading certificate authority that issued this SSL Certificate. When you see your address bar turn green, simply look to the right to see that the owner of this Web site is the organization you intended to visit.