Secure your domain and unlimited subdomains at affordable rates using wildcard SSL certificates

If you wish to secure your website and its subdomains without the hassles of managing multiple certificates tied with each of them, a wildcard certificate might be the right choice. It is a cost-effective solution that secures a primary domain (also called a fully qualified domain name or FQDN) and an unlimited number of first-level subdomains without the need to reissue the certificate as you add subdomains.

How Does a Wildcard Certificate Work?

Simply put, a wildcard SSL is a certificate that secures a single domain and unlimited subdomains at the same level. This is done by covering all first-level subdomains under the same wildcard - *.domainname.com.

The asterisk is used to specify the level of subdomains that you’re attempting to secure. For example, *.mynewsite.com secures every subdomain at one level like blog.mynewsite.com and order.mynewsite.com, but not login.blog.mynewsite.com.

Features of a Wildcard SSL

• Easy Certificate Management: One single SSL certificate can secure an unlimited number of subdomains at one specific level.
• Strong Encryption: Come with 256-bit strong encryption and a 2048-bit RSA signature key.
• Unlimited Server Licenses: Irrespective of where your subdomains are hosted, you can install the same certificate on multiple servers at zero additional cost.

A Word of Caution

The private key for a wildcard SSL is shared among all the subdomains across servers. Unauthorized access to the site’s private key will compromise security and can be used by hackers to set up rogue websites.

What Is the Difference Between a Standard SSL and a Wildcard Certificate?

With a standard SSL certificate, there’s no scope for adding an asterisk (*) to secure an entire level of subdomains. To secure multiple domains or subdomains using a regular certificate, you need to list them as subject alternative names (SAN) on a multi-domain certificate. For every domain you wish to protect, additional charges are levied.

Wildcard certificates, on the other hand, automatically secure an unlimited number of subdomains of a primary domain without the need to list them individually and at no additional cost.

Can I Get an EV Wildcard Certificate?

The short answer is no, you can’t get an EV wildcard certificate. Due to the risks surrounding private key security, and the impact of unauthorized access across all subdomains, EV certificates are not issued together with wildcard SSL in accordance with the rules defined by the CA/Browser forum. Such breaches may go unnoticed and can be extremely difficult to detect and track, giving attackers the undue advantage of setting up phishing sites with valid SSL certificates.