Version 1.0 of EV SSL Guidelines Approved

On June 12th, 2007, the CA/Browser forum, a voluntary organization of leading certification authorities (CAs) and Internet browser software vendors, officially ratified the first version of the Extended Validation (EV) SSL Guidelines, which take effect immediately. The formal approval successfully brings to a close more than two years of effort, and provides the infrastructure for trusted website identity on the Internet.

The previous version of the EV Guidelines only allowed certain Incorporated entities to receive EV certificates. Now nearly all entities and websites are eligible to receive an EV certificate. As the green address bar becomes more prevalent, more users will associate it with greater trust which will bring EV certificates closer to the goal that they were intended to acheive.

Vendors of Internet browsers all voiced support and enthusiasm for the new EV SSL Guidelines.

"Determining the identity of the websites they visit has always been a challenge for internet users," said Markellos Diorinos, Security Product Manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft. "With Extended Validation SSL Certificates, which allow Internet Explorer 7 to display verified identity information for websites, users are now able to make better trust decisions online."

"Mozilla is excited to see the new Extended Validation Guidelines that have resulted from collaboration between Certificate Authorities," said Window Snyder, Chief Security Officer for the makers of the Firefox web browser. "EV SSL will make it easier for Firefox to tell users who is behind the website they're seeing, which is an important factor in making trust decisions."

"We welcome this move to create common guidelines for implementation of Extended Validation Certificates," said Christen Krogh, President of Engineering for Opera Software ASA. "We have always placed user security as our first priority and these certificates will improve digital identity assurance for users of compliant browsers."

"The KDE project is thrilled to take part in this initiative," said Sebastien Kugler of the KDE Project. "It's a great opportunity to make the Internet more secure and a friendlier place, something that is fully in line with the goals of KDE. We look forward to implementing Extended Validation SSL Certificates in our web browsing component."

The EV Guidelines can be found on the CA/Browser forum's website.

Compare the Cheapest EV SSL Certificates.

Originally posted on Sun Jul 8, 2007