The actual encryption strength on a secure Web site connection enabled by a digital SSL certificate is determined by the level of encryption supported by the site visitor's browser and the server that the Web site resides on. For example, the combination of a Firefox browser and an Apache Web server enables 256-bit AES encryption with the SSL certificates. That means that if your Web site is hosted on a server whose software supports 256-bit encryption — such as Apache —, then site visitors that use a Firefox browser will have their transactions with your site protected by 256-encryption. Thus with the right combination of Web browser and Web server, you can establish a 256-bit encrypted secure connection via a Secure SSL Certificate.

All Linux-based hosting plans run Apache, so if you are hosting your Web site with us on one of those plans, your visitors’ sensitive data can be protected with the highest grade of protection through 256-bit encryption.

Encryption strength is measured in key length — number of bits in the key. To decipher an SSL communication, one needs to generate the correct decoding key. Mathematically speaking, 2ⁿ possible values exist for an n-bit key. Thus, 40-bit encryption involves 2⁴⁰ possible values, 128-bit encryption 2¹²⁸ combinations, and 256-bit keys involves a staggering 2²⁵⁶ possible combinations, rendering the encrypted data de facto impervious to intrusion. Even with a brute-force attack (the process of systematically trying all possible combinations until the right one is found) cracking a 256-bit encryption is computationally unfeasible.