SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificates

What is an SSL Certificate?

If you're a Firefish Professional or Enterprise customer you've probably heard us talking about your SSL certificate, but what exactly is it and why is it so important?

You'll be collecting sensitive candidate and/or contact data through your website in places such as advert applications, registration forms and contact us forms.

We apply an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to ensure that this information is protected. Your SSL adds an extra layer of security to the connection: it encrypts all data to and from the server and your browser, then decrypts it once you've received it. This means that sensitive information such as names, addresses, phone numbers and passwords can't be intercepted or "read" by others. Your site is secure to use!

How do I get an SSL Certificate?

When your site goes live, we apply your SSL certificate which will be valid for 12 months. When your SSL Certificate is due for renewal we will renew and install the certificate at a price of £110. You will be issued with an invoice for this approximately 4 weeks before the renewal is due.

You can purchase your own SSL certificate if you'd prefer. However, you'll need to ensure that your certification is maintained and provided to us each year, and there's a cost of £110 per year for us to install it for you. Be careful if you're managing this yourself - we won't have a record of when it's due to be renewed, and failure to keep it up to date could result in your website going offline!

You can tell if a site is secure by checking out the URL. A secure site will have the prefix https:

The "s" in the prefix means that the site is secure.

If you visit a non-secure site, you'll find that the URL starts with http instead of https and often some browsers will display a security message saying that the site might not be safe e.g Google Chrome.