Domain registrar and Web hosting provider Go Daddy announced on Thursday that its new extended validation SSL certificates are available for sale. EV SSLs help to establish online business identities, enable secure connections and promote online consumer confidence, setting a higher standard for secure and successful online businesses.

Like Go Daddy Turbo SSL and High Assurance SSL, the new EV SSL is based on 256-bit encryption technology. The EV SSL vetting process involves verifying the applying organization’s identity and usually requires a letter from a representing attorney or accountant. Although the new guidelines are stringent, Go Daddy says its EV SSL certificates can be issued within two to four hours after all required documentation is received.

When users access sites encrypted with EV SSLs using Internet Explorer 7, the first browser to distinguish EV certificates, the site’s secure status is immediately evident. The browser’s address bar shows a green background and the name of the organization to which the certificate was issued, along with the familiar https:// prefix and padlock icon. Other browsers currently handle EV SSLs like normal certificates and are expected to distinguish them soon.

“EV SSLs are the next logical step for us as a Certificate Authority,” says Warren Adelman, Go Daddy president and COO. “Internet shoppers need to know they are protected when they input financial or otherwise personal information online and EV certificates help accommodate that. Go Daddy has been part of the process of creating the EV standard since its inception. We were happy to work with browser vendors and our fellow certificate authorities in bringing this to fruition.”