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SSL certificates are an important element of the security infrastructure that protects systems and communications. In that role, they also enable customers to trust businesses that customers might otherwise be unfamiliar with. What is it about SSL certificates that enable these properties? To answer this question, we must understand the components of an SSL certificate and how they are used for authentication and encryption. We also need to understand different uses of SSL certificates and how they enable the formation of trust. This chapter is organized into five sections that will address these issues:

• Components of an SSL certificate
• Authenticating servers with SSL certificates
• Encryption and SSL
• Different uses of SSL certificates
• Trust and SSL security

We start with the basic building blocks of SSL certificates.

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Tags: pci, ssl