Identity theft attempts are everyday events and the consequences of succumbing can be devastating. To protect vulnerable users from these kinds of attacks, companies such as VeriSign have developed encryption technologies (Secure Sockets Layer or SSL Certificates) for protecting the data that identity thieves crave, especially credit card numbers, payment information, social security numbers, passwords, and confidential personal data. Read this white paper to learn about encryption technologies (Secure Sockets Layer or SSL Certificates) developed by some companies to protect the data that identity thieves target. It also explores standards and regulations and describes some of the recommendations or requirements they impose for using encryption and related technologies.