One aspect of using the Internet is viewing SSL certificates in your browser. Over time, an initially uninteresting problem has become a major topic that affects not only security, but also marketing. Let’s take a look at how the display of the certificate in the browser has evolved. You might be surprised how often this element changes and how much it has deviated from its original intent.
The origins of SSL certificates
Encryption on the web using SSL certificates dates back to the 1990s. One of the first certification authorities – thawte – has been operating since 1995 and still enjoys great popularity. The HTTP and HTTPS web protocols for the encrypted web have been with us (with forced upgrades) for 20 years.
Connecting to the Internet was not
common for computer users at the time, and encryption on the web was an exception in such cases. In addition, until 2007, there were only 2 types of certificates – simple ones without information about the owner (domain, DV) and certificates with verified information about the owner (certificates with verification of the organization, OV). Browsers thus made do with the lock symbol in the status bar (typically Internet Explorer 7 and 8). After the arrival of its competitors, the situation began to taiwan phone number data change and browsers began to pay more attention to HTTPS. Firefox in its first version (2004) used a lock symbol similar to Explorer, but later highlighted certificates in blue.
In its first version, Firefox took over the lock from Internet Explorer and did not yet recognize EV certificates
In the very first version (2009), Chrome handled the display of the certificate in a similar way; however, since he already knew EV certificates, he could list the details of the organization.
Chrome 1
In the first version, Chrome displayed the EV certificate without a green line, but it now supports it
The arrival of EV certificates
In 2007, the CAB forum (Association why should you use them of Certificate Authorities and Certificate Manufacturers) introduced a new type of certificate with extended validation . Its main by lists benefit was displaying the name of the organization next to the address bar. This element is called the “EV Green Bar” – that is, the green bar, and it actually looked like that before.