What is SSL certificate encryption strength?

The certificate encryption strength is a measure of number of bits in the key used to encrypt data during an SSL session. The bigger the number, the longer it takes for computer(s) to decrypt enciphered data.

The strength of encryption depends solely on the web-browser and the web-server it requests the connection to.

**It is strongly recommended to use 128/256 bit bulk encryption on any application or website.**

All our SSL certificates now support up to 256-bit encryption. That means that if the user's browser supports 256 and your web server supports 256, the SSL session will be 256. If 256 is not supported by both the browser and the server, the SSL session steps down to 128. For example, Mozilla's Firefox web browser supports up to 256-bit encryption and will match the level of encryption the website uses. Going forward the shift will be from 128 to 256.

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