Secure Socket Layer or more commonly known as SSL, is a way to encrypt communications between to end points. For example, should you wish to secure data transfer between you and your customer via your website, you’d need an SSL certificate to do so. Please see below for more information pertaining to SSL:
Private SSL certificate:
A private SSL certificate is a certificate that has been undersigned by a web root authority, such as GlobalSign, GeoTrust, Comodo, Verisign, and many others. These SSL vendors ensure that an SSL certificate meets their standards, and even in some cases guarantees them with an insurance policy (should something happen).
Self-Signed SSL certificate:
On the other end of the spectrum, a self-signed SSL certificate is a certificate that has been generated by a server (as all of them are), but isn’t backed by any SSL web hosting provider, resulting in a possible warning message appearing on your browser, should you decide to use it.
Should you have any further questions pertaining to SSL certificates, please feel free to get in contact with your web hosting support team for additional assistance.