Good (cheap) SSL certificate authority recommendation?

Forums › IT Pro and developers › Good (cheap) SSL certificate authority recommendation?

foobar

186 posts

Master Geek

Topic # 25471 22-Aug-2008 10:33

Hello!

Firefox 3 throws up big fat warnings when faced with an SSL certificate that is not signed by one of the (many) recognised certificate authorities.

Getting an 'officially signed' one costs money. Can someone recommend a CA then that is ... you know ... cheap? I need one of those official certificates, but I don't want to spend too much money either.

Thank you very much...

bcourtney

652 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 27

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 158898 22-Aug-2008 10:49

http://www.certificatesforexchange.com/

nate

6328 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 391

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 158950 22-Aug-2008 13:31

http://www.comodo.com/

RedJungle

Phil Gale
1107 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 44

Trusted

Red Jungle

Subscriber

Reply # 158953 22-Aug-2008 13:55

Godaddy.com have a 'domain control verified' SSL certificate which is pretty cheap - depends on what you need it for.

Red Jungle: we make fantastic software

Regs

Infrastructure Geek
4056 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

Trusted

Microsoft NZ

Subscriber

Reply # 158970 22-Aug-2008 15:01

bcourtney: http://www.certificatesforexchange.com/

these guys would have to be the cheapest for SAN certificates (multiple subject alternative names)

Technical Evangelist
Microsoft NZ
about.me/nzregs
Twitter: @nzregs

KShips

146 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 14

Reply # 158989 22-Aug-2008 16:02

What are the free ones? Would be good to be able to use one without cost for personal systems and testing.

Cheers

Regs

Infrastructure Geek
4056 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

Trusted

Microsoft NZ

Subscriber

Reply # 158992 22-Aug-2008 16:16

KShips: What are the free ones? Would be good to be able to use one without cost for personal systems and testing.

Cheers

if you are testing within an Active Directory organisation you can install our own trusted certification authority (CA) and issue ssl certificates which are automatically trusted by any computer inside the domain. if you test with a computer *outside* the domain you will have to explicitly trust the enterprise CA.

You can also get "official" test ssl certificates for free from the ssl vendors - these typically last for days to months and require you to explicitly trust their test-CA in your browser/certificate cache.

alternatively you can create your own - google up "self signed ssl" along with your software of choice - e.g. IIS, Apache, etc - and you should find instructions on how to generate your own ssl cert. There is a tool that comes with the Microsoft IIS resource kit for example that will create and install an ssl certificate for you.

Technical Evangelist
Microsoft NZ
about.me/nzregs
Twitter: @nzregs

KShips

146 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 14

Reply # 158998 22-Aug-2008 16:25

Will do some investigaion and probably set own SSL until have something that is really needing proper Cert.

Cheers

foobar

186 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 159103 23-Aug-2008 05:36

So, yesterday I start this thread with a question about cheap SSL certificates (thank you for all the replies!) and today I find a comparison site for SSL certificates! How convenient.

Regs

Infrastructure Geek
4056 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 195

Trusted

Microsoft NZ

Subscriber

Reply # 159424 24-Aug-2008 22:39

foobar: So, yesterday I start this thread with a question about cheap SSL certificates (thank you for all the replies!) and today I find a comparison site for SSL certificates! How convenient.

except for the fact that they are missing a bunch of the options there (and their prices are wrong). www.cetificatesforexchange.com offer a $60 per year UC cert for 5 domains which is a bit cheaper than the godaddy cert. www.optimumssl.com offer a $14.95 single ssl cert which is also almost half the price of the godaddy one.

if you want a fully trusted ssl for testing which works for 90 days, for free, use one of these:
http://www.instantssl.com/ssl-certificate-products/free-ssl-certificate.html?whichssl

Technical Evangelist
Microsoft NZ
about.me/nzregs
Twitter: @nzregs

cokemaster

Nate wants an iphone
3901 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 28

Mod Emeritus

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 159430 24-Aug-2008 22:57

Had a look at StartSSL?

I think they have a free option.

webhosting |New Zealand connections | geekzone IRC chat
Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

sleemanj

1243 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 156

Reply # 159443 24-Aug-2008 23:47

One person supports this post

I get all my certs through namecheap.com (a few single domain ones and one wildcard), I also get international domains through them, easy to have it all in one place. Thier support is a bit patchy, but really once it's issued it's issued.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

Detruire

1257 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 64

Reply # 163114 8-Sep-2008 16:55

sleemanj: I get all my certs through namecheap.com (a few single domain ones and one wildcard), I also get international domains through them, easy to have it all in one place. Thier support is a bit patchy, but really once it's issued it's issued.

I've always had great support from them...

They're also offering 'free' certificates for new registrations / transfers.

rm *