Help Center/ Cloud Certificate Manager/ Service Overview/ SSL Certificate Selection/ Differences Between SSL Certificate Types
Updated on 2024-10-11 GMT+08:00
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Differences Between SSL Certificate Types

SCM provides DV, OV, and EV SSL certificates.

This topic describes the differences between different types of certificates.

Special enterprises cannot apply for OV or EV certificates. For example, military units, some government agencies, and national security departments.

To apply for OV and EV certificates, organizations must verify their identity through unified social credit code published on the national official website. While, special enterprises cannot verify their organization identity because there is no related details on that website.

Certificate Types

On SCM console, you can buy DV, OV, and EV SSL certificates. Different types of certificates are recommended for different scenarios to meet varied trust and security strength requirements. For details, see Differences between certificate types

Table 1 Differences between certificate types

Certificate Type

Security

Validation Requirements

Application Scenario

Supported Certificate Authority

Review Duration

DV

General

The CA verifies the domain name ownership only.

Testing websites of individuals or enterprises
  • DigiCert
  • GeoTrust

Several hours

OV

High

The CA follows a standard process to validate the organization identity and the domain name ownership.

Service websites of education agencies, government departments, Internet companies, applications of small and medium-sized enterprises, and e-commerce platforms

For example, Apple Store and WeChat applet.
  • DigiCert
  • GeoTrust

3 to 5 working days

EV

Highest

CAs will verify the organization identity and the domain name ownership.

Websites of large enterprises, institutions, and organizations with strict security requirements

For example, financial institutions, insurance agencies, and banks.
  • DigiCert

7 to 10 working days

Certificate Authorities

The following table lists the CAs supported by SCM and the certificate types each CA provides.

Table 2 Certificate authorities

Certificate Authority

Description

SSL DV Certificates Supported

SSL OV Certificates Supported

SSL EV Certificates Supported

DigiCert

DigiCert, formerly Symantec, is the world's largest CA. It provides services for more than 100,000 customers in over 150 countries and regions.

Advantages: High security, stability, and compatibility. Suitable for digital transactions with high security requirements and widely used by financial institutions.

Yes

Single-domain certificates supported

Yes

Single-domain, multiple-domain, and wildcard-domain certificates supported

Yes

Single-domain and multi-domain certificates supported

GeoTrust

GeoTrust, the world's second largest CA, is an industry-leading provider of identity and trust validation. It is committed to offering the best service at the lowest price possible to enterprises of all sizes.

Advantages: Powered by DigiCert. High security, stability, and compatibility, cost-effective, and less know-how required for HTTPS protection

Yes

Single-domain and wildcard-domain certificates supported

Yes

Single-domain and wildcard-domain certificates supported

Yes

Single-domain and multi-domain certificates supported

Promotion activities

  • Single domain names (using domain name www.a.com and root domain name a.com as an example)
    Figure 1 Promotion activities
  • Wildcard domain name (using domain names *.a.com and *.a.b.com as an example)
    Figure 2 Promotion activities

Domain Name Types Supported in SCM

The following table describes how different types of SSL certificates are used for domain names.

Table 3 Domain type

Domain type

Description

Single domain

Only a single domain can be associated with an SSL certificate. For example, example.com.

Multiple domains

Multiple domain names can be associated with an SSL certificate.

  • You can associate a multi-domain certificate with up to 250 domain names.
  • A wildcard domain name is allowed only by OV or OV pro multi-domain certificates. Other types of multi-domain certificates can only associate with multiple single domain names
  • You can associate a multi-domain certificate with multiple domain names at different time points. For example, if you purchase a multi-domain certificate with three domain names, you can associate it with two domain names when applying for the certificate, and associate it with the last domain name after the certificate is issued.
  • The number of domain names a multi-domain certificate can protect depends on the domain quantity you configure when you buy the certificate. If you have more domain names to protect after the purchase completes, purchase another certificate for them.

Wildcard domain

Only one wildcard domain can be associated with an SSL certificate. Domain names having multiple wildcard characters, such as *.*.example.com, are not supported.

Only one wildcard character is allowed in a wildcard domain name, for example, *.example.com, which may include domain names a.example.com, b.example.com, and more, but does not include a.a.example.com.

For details about how to select a domain type, see How Do I Select an SSL Certificate?

Cryptographic Algorithms Supported in SCM

SSL certificates issued by CAs in CCM support RSA and ECC algorithms.

  • Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) is an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm that is widely used around the world. It has the best compatibility among the three algorithms and supports mainstream browsers and all-platform OSs. Generally, RSA uses a 2048-bit or 3072-bit key.
  • Elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) features faster encryption, higher efficiency, and lower server resource consumption compared with RSA. ECC is being promoted in mainstream browsers and is becoming a next-generation mainstream algorithm. Generally, ECC uses a 256-bit key.

For more details, see Cryptographic algorithms supported.

Table 4 Cryptographic Algorithms Supported in SCM

Certificate Authority

Certificate Type

Domain Type

Cryptographic Algorithm

DigiCert

DV (Basic)

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, and RSA_4096

OV

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Multiple domains

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Wildcard domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

OV Pro

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Multiple domains

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Wildcard domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

EV

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Multiple domains

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

EV Pro

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Multiple domains

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

GeoTrust

DV (Basic)

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, and RSA_4096

Wildcard domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, and RSA_4096

OV

Single domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384

Wildcard domain

RSA_2048, RSA_3072, RSA_4096, EC_P256, and EC_P384