Digital Certificate - Verisign

Users of ANACOM’S online services can verify the authenticity of identity of the site and the information made available through the site. They can also transfer data submitted in online forms, through an SSL - Secure Socket Layer ¹ connection.

This connection guarantees the confidentiality of the data being submitted, using the most advanced encryption technologies, such as High Encryption (128 bit), public keys ², private keys ³ and digital certificates ⁴. These methods provide visitors with unequivocal identification of the website owner.

Using the functions of the browser, normally by clicking on a small padlock icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the browser window, you can check the information contained on the digital certificate of the site you are browsing and ensure that the website you are visiting is authentic.

Once the communication channel has been encrypted ⁵, the user can exchange information with the site with the guarantee of privacy and security.

The digital certificate is signed by the issuing authority, known as the certification authority, and contains the following information:

- Identification of the holder

- The holder’s public key

- Certificate’s serial number

- Expiration dates

- Details of the certification authority (issuer of the certificate)

- Digital signature of certification authority 

 
¹ Secure Socket Layer: As soon as the credentials and public key of the website you are browsing have been authenticated through the site’s digital certificate, the browser will establish a SSL connection with the respective server. SSL is a way of encrypting the transmission of data between the user’s browser and the site being browsed. You can make sure that an SSL connection is being used by checking that the URL displayed in the browser’s address bar begins with "https://" instead of "http://".
² Public Key: this key can be distributed by the holder of the corresponding private key. By encrypting data with this key you are guaranteed that this data can only be decrypted by the holder of the private key.
³ Private Key: The public and private keys are mathematic algorithms used to encrypt information. Data encrypted by the public key can only be decrypted by the corresponding private key. In the same way data encrypted by the private key can only be decrypted by the corresponding public key. As the name suggests, the private key is never distributed, being exclusively the knowledge of the organization which produced it.
⁴ Certification Authority and Digital Certificates: In situations where communication between parties is purely electronic, a party that wants to communicate with another can obtain from it the respective public key; however, this does not necessarily guarantee that they are who they say they are. Accordingly the holder of the Private Key can demonstrate that the corresponding public key is genuine via certification from a trusted third party, a certifying authority. This means that the first of the parties can have complete confidence that the public key that it has been given does indeed belong to the site it wishes to communicate with. This certificate is given in the form of a digital certificate.
⁵ Encryption level: Currently there are browsers that support secure connection encrypted through 128-bit or 40-bit SSL; a 128-bit SSL certificate supports both types of connection. However a 128-bit encryption provides a higher degree of protection, and so users should avoid using browsers that only support 40-bit SSL. You should check the levels of encryption supported by your browser before establishing a connection.