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SSL Security

how iGet Mobile uses SSL encryption to keep your data safe


iGet Mobile uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to protect the connection between your client device and your Mac. This is what is normally used to create a "secure connection" on the web, so you are likely familiar with it if you have used online banking or other similar services.

Self-signed vs. commercial SSL certificates

When SSL is used, the web server has its own "certificate" which is used to verify the identity of the web server, and to encrypt the traffic. In the case of iGet Mobile, your Mac is acting as a private web server, so it uses its own SSL certificate.

Now, public web sites typically use a commercial SSL certificate purchased from a security vendor. Most web browsers have a list of these trusted vendors, and they automatically determine that the server is actually the machine that it claims to be, and that the data is encrypted.

However, there's another class of SSL certificate, which can be used in cases where the cost or complexity of purchasing a commercial certificate aren't desirable. These are known as "self-signed" certificates, because you can make them yourself rather than relying on a trusted authority.

Both certificates can be used to encrypt the data, and keep it safe from snoopers as the data is sent over the Internet. The key difference is that self-signed certificates cannot be used to prove the identity of a remote machine.

For this reason, using a self-signed certificate is not as secure as using a commercial-grade certificate.

Using the default self-signed certificate

You don't have to do anything to have iGet Mobile create a self-signed certificate; this is done automatically. However, when accessing your personal server, you will have to instruct your browser to accept the self-signed certificate. (See the section Connecting to your Mac for how to do this.)

Using a your own SSL certificate

You don't have to rely on iGet Mobile's self-signed certificate if your don't want to. You can use a commercial certificate that you have purchased for your Mac, or you can use another self-signed certificate, if you've already set that up and wish to continue using that.

To use your own certificate, make a copy of the certificate file and move it to:

~/Library/Application Support/iGet Mobile/Web Server/SSL/certificate.pem

This is the location iGet Mobile expects its certificate to be. If it finds a certificate there when the server is started, it attempts to use that. If there is no file there, then it creates a self-signed certificate automatically.

Limitations on using your own SSL certificate in this version of iGet Mobile
This version of iGet Mobile does NOT support chained SSL certificates. To use your own certificate, it must be a single-root certificate, and you must copy the key and certificate data blocks into the file. This means certificates from many providers, such as GoDaddy.com, will not work.

We intend to address this limitation in a future version of iGet Mobile. Please email us if this limitation is currently a problem for you, to help us prioritize this issue.

While we don't know of an SSL certificate provider that we can wholeheartedly recommend, NameCheap is one low-cost provider that we have tested successfully with iGet Mobile.

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