SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is an emerging standard developed by Netscape Communications to transfer information securely across the Internet. SSL will enable your customer's browser to connect to your web site and transparently negotiate a secure communication channel. Once this connection has been made, information, like credit card numbers, can be exchange with no chance of a third party intercepting the data.

There are some important issues regarding the use of secure processing that everyone needs to be aware of. Every web site name (i.e. www.YOUR DOMAIN.com) that wishes to use SSL will need to have an authentication certificate "signed" by Verisign. If you do not wish to get your own certificate, you can use Internet-Sites.com's. However, this means that you will have to use a site name other than your own (e.g. https://www.hway.net// or https://www.rapidsite.net//). You can find more information about the certificate registration process at:

http://www.verisign.com/apachessl-us/index.html

Verisign will verify the true identity of you and your company before issuing a certificate. Based on our experience, we will be able to provide additional assistance with this process if necessary.

Please note that SSL does not include software to process credit card transactions. Although you can securely receive credit card information through SSL, actual processing of the credit card will require a "Merchant account" from an accredited financial institution. Credit card processing software will start to appear soon and you can find more information about the new credit card processing standard called "SET" at:

http:///www.visa.com and http://www.mastercard.com