Extended SSL, as it is known, is already supported in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7. But because it relies on extensive checks, mainly conducted through government records, there are fears some small businesses will be unable to get the certificate.
Certification vendors such as Verisign will have to check a company’s legal existence and identity, check government records to ensure the physical address matches with the certificate, verify the telephone number provided is the primary business one, ensure the business owns and controls the domain name and verify the person requesting the certificate works for the company.
Companies which have been in existence for less than three years may be required to produce evidence they have a bank account.
A number of small businesses, especially general partnerships, unincorporated associations, sole proprietorships and individuals, will be unable to get the certificates.
According to Bill O’Brien, Platform Strategy Manager at Microsoft Ireland, Internet Explorer 7 will use strong visual aids to represent the presence of Extended SSL, including a green address bar and the name of the organisation and certificate authority.
But while the goal is to make the day-to-day browsing experience safer and ensure e-commerce remains a good experience for users, there are concerns smaller businesses will be perceived to be less trustworthy because they will not have a green address bar.
Microsoft admits the guidelines are much more difficult for smaller businesses because legal registration practices vary in the US and from country to country.
But Markellos Diorinos, Internet Explorer product manager, claims there are three options available to small businesses. They can partner with a third party like PayPal for transaction processing, use their web-hoster or another third party to host their secure pages or use one of the available ‘store-in-store’ systems, such as Ebay or Yahoo, to host their presence.
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