Symantec SSL Review: Pricey, But Are They Worth It? Our In-Depth Review Breaks Down the Pros and Cons.

Symantec features

Symantec is a Fortune 500 tech company that offers SSL certificates as one of its product offerings. After the acquisition of VeriSign’s Certificate Authority business in 2010, Symantec became one of the top companies in the SSL certification industry.

As such, Symantec is now considered the “go-to” provider when it comes to acquiring SSL certificates. Whether you want domain level, company or extended validation certification, Symantec has it all.

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Main Features

Like most SSL providers, Symantec offers several basic features and service guarantees regardless of which digital certificate you choose to buy. To begin with, every SSL certificate you purchase from this provider will feature a 30-day money-back guarantee and Symantec’s NetSure Extended Warranty.

The SSL certificates also offer universal browser compatibility and you will be eligible for a free daily website malware scanning service. Other standard features that Symantec offers include a simple online application process for SSL certificates, full organization authentication as well as Norton’s and Symantec’s secure seal logos.

Types of Certificates

In a nutshell, the SSL certificates that Symantec offers may be categorized into the following broad groups:

Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates

While these digital certificates are issued within 1-10 days, they offer the highest level of encryption with 256-bit keys. They include:

» Secure Site Pro SSL with Extended Validation

» Secure Site SSL with EV

With an extended validation SSL certificate, customers will be able to see the green tab and padlock logo next to their browser’s address bar that lets them know they are on a secure site. However, EV SSL certificates do not come cheap and they only secure one domain.

Business Validated SSL Certificate

Symantec’s business validated SSL certificates also provide up to 256-bit encryption. They include:

» Secure Site Pro

» Wildcard SSL

» Secure Site

Unlike the other business validated options that only secure one domain, the Wildcard SSL allows you to encrypt unlimited sub-domains with one certificate.

All of Symantec’s SSL certificates must be renewed annually by default. If you plan to stick with this certificate authority for the foreseeable future, you can also opt for SSL certificates that have a validity period of 2-3 years.

Extras

Most SSL providers try to stand out by giving customers a few extra features, and Symantec is no exception. With their SSL certificate, you can benefit from bonus offering such as an installation checker, licensing for multiple servers and the ability to manage all your Symantec products from one portal.

Safety and Security

As mentioned earlier, Symantec SSL certificates contain 256-bit keys, which is the highest level of encryption you can get. In addition, this certificate authority also offers a few extra security features such as:

» ECC algorithm, which uses shorter key lengths but provides better protection than current encryption methods.

» DSA standard for digital signatures that offers the same level of security and performance as the RSA algorithm, but uses a different encryption method and algorithm for signing.

Help and Support

If you want to learn more about Symantec and their SSL certificate options, you can visit the Knowledge Center. This section on their website offers a wealth of information in the form of searchable help guides, installation instructions, answers to FAQs, troubleshooting guides and video tutorials.

For users who need technical support, Symantec offers both phone and email support. There’s a Technical Help Chat service as well. In addition, Symantec provides world-class customer support, with office locations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Summary

Symantec offers everything that you would expect from a leading SSL provider. Their customer support service is top notch and they have multiple SSL options to suite different site security needs. The only downside is that most of their entry-level SSL certificates offer business level validation and they do not come cheap. If you’re looking for more economical domain level SSL packages, you might want to checkout companies such as Thawte and GeoTrust.

Pros

» 256 bit digital certificates.

» Multiple SSL certificates to choose from, including Wildcard as well as EV and business level validation.

» Subscribers get a 30-day moneyback guarantee as well as Symantec’s NetSure warranty.

» Multiple options to contact customer support.

Cons

» No low cost SSL plans on offer.

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Symantec plans & prices

Symantec SSL/TLS certificates (formerly by VeriSign) uses industry-leading SSL encryption across all products. Get Symantec’s Secure Site certificates and obtain the Norton Secured Seal. For latest and most up to date prices visit Symantec’s website.

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