Internet fraud is a huge crime all over the world and is on the increase. These crimes can be committed by fraudsters with relative ease. A credit card transaction can be done over the phone without even the credit card being present; therefore all the fraudsters will need is the details off your credit card. According to the Home Office, credit card fraud was in excess of £212m illion in 2006 which was a rise of 15% on 2005.

Therefore, any additional security available to protect internet users is welcomed. I’m sure we are all the same, when entering any sensitive details (personal details, credit card details etc) we all want to trust the website and know that are details are going to be handled safely. If a user does not trust the website, there is a possibility of abandoning their transaction and shop else where.

The new type of SSL certificate has been released called the EV SSL (Extended Validation SSL Certificates) that will add protection to users. This is a special type if SSL certificate that required additional checks into the requested entry by a trusted third party that issue digital certificates(a CA otherwise know as a certified authority). The CA/Browser forum officially released the version of the EV SSL guidelines on the 12th June, 2007. The CA/Browser forum consists of more than twenty members from the leading browser manufacturers and SSL providers.

A website that contains an EV SSL certificate, a visual display will be given. The website address within a browser will be displayed in a green bar. Browsers that are used for displaying website must support EV SSL. Currently Internet Explorer 7.0 (current version) does support EV SSL certificates (however it requires Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 to enable the phishing filter). In addition Firefox 3.0 beta and Opera 9.5 beta also support EV SSL. The EV SSL certificate will provide the user with additional information such as the company trading name add address.

Recently PCI compliance has become a major factor in taking card payment within a website. The guidelines set out make sure that companies taking card payment are secure. The EV SSL certificates will help with user’s confidence for using a website and reinforce to the user that their transaction (e.g. Payment is being take on an eCommerce site) is completely secure.

Providing additional security to users potentially purchasing online will reduce users concerns of the safety of their sensitive details but also assist the company to increase their revenue.