In the IT world, security is everything. From locking down web sites to securing software access and denying access to specific files or databases, the need for security has grown exponentially as the number of people online has exploded. The PKI Certificate is an authentication method that uses a digital certificate issued by a certificate authority to verify your digital signature and grant you access to the secured information.

If you are running an online retail site today you must be to be able to offer your customers' proof that you are taking the appropriate steps to protect their personal information and credit card data at all points during and after their transaction is completed. The most recognized way to do this is to use a certification authority that can provide you with a digital certificate that offers highest level of data encryption.

Nothing is more important to a customer who is planning to shop at an online retail web site than knowing that all of the personal information such as credit/debit card numbers, name and address is going to be kept confidential. In to prevent phishing and the theft of this information most online retailers use some form of public key cryptography to ensure that even if the information is phished, what the thief comes up with is completely useless.

In the early days of the Internet, the idea of using it to send any kind of legally binding document for signature was addressed and given the technology available in those nascent days, summarily dismissed as not viable. There was simply no way to verify that the person who was using an e signature was who they claimed to be. With the new technology available including the use of a Certificate Authority to verify all information, the e signature is now considered just as legally binding as a pen and paper signature.

When you are running a simple web site, you can probably get away with having it hosted by one of many different hosting companies without having to worry about it being bothered or hacked into. However, when you are running a corporate site or a retail site, you need to make sure you have it hosted on a UK VPN or virtual private network that provide you with a section of one of their servers that is restricted to just your web site.

When your company has databases that contain various levels of confidential information, you need a way to secure them in such a way that only those with the proper identification and credentials can access them. While single factor authentication may work for the lower level databases, you should be using two factor authentication that requires the use of an RSA token as well as the correct username and password in order to gain entry.

In an ever more hazardous Internet environment the use of single factor authentication, for example user name and password, is no longer considered to offer much in the way of true access security. In far too many case a good hacker can figure these out in a matter of seconds and gain access to everything. When you switch up to using two factor authentication, you add in an extra impenetrable layer of security.

In this day and age, you have to take every possible step with regards to the security of your clients' personal information. There was a time when nothing more than a username and password was more than enough to secure an online account; unfortunately this information is easily hacked as most people use easy to remember information. When you add in another identifier to the mix you are creating a two factor authentication system that is virtually impossible to hack.

Two Factor Authentication is Now Widely Used

When you run an online business that deals with collecting personal and financial information from your customers, it is your responsibility to provide yours customers with the assurance that all of the information they are entering on your web site is going to be protected. The best way to do this is by using an SSL Certificate that you have obtained from a reputable Certificate Authority such as Digi-Sign.

As an online retailer it is you responsibility to provide each of your customers not only with complete security for all of their personal information and credit card data but with proof that you are making the effort to do so. The easiest way to do this is by using a certificate authority that can provide you with a digital certificate and the highest level of data encryption.