SSL and encryption is one of the more serious ways you can increase your anonymity online. When things are encypted in the web you are using the https protocol instead of http in your browser window. Normal data transfering over a network that isn't encrypted is visible and readable to anyone able to intercept your data packets of information traveling across the network. But if you encrypted your data through an ssl encryption any network node or network wiretap will not be able to read this data because it is not going to be displayed in plain text when trying to read it. Over the years as encryption technologies have progressed so have they become harder and more difficult to crack. Methods of encryption have been used before computers were invented through the use of techniques like using an enigma machine in world war 2. An example of older method of encryption could be something like a code were a person might get a message from another person where one character in a phrase stands for a different letter.

As of recent services like facebook and gmail (and google.com) have started offering there services over ssl https connections. When you are using a public wifi network connection the traffic from your computer to the hotspot is often not encrypted either. But if you browse all of your internet connections through ssl you will not have to worry about someone reading your data over wifi and grabbing a cookie you send over the air.

Currently there are a couple different industry standards that are considered safe for an ssl encryption. The lowest reccomended level of encryption is 128 bit ssl certificate but the newer 256 bit is reccomended. The higher the bit rate the harder and longer it will take for a super computer system to crack the encryption codes. If you want to get heavy duty encryption use 2048 bit encryption instead or the highest available. The 128 bit encryption level is expected to last for a while but who knows how fast technology will improve at certain periods in time.

Each ssl site you connect with will contain an signed certificate identifying and helping you verify the site your visiting is actually valid. They do this buy purchasing from websites like verisign that are known to have credible authority in identifying and securely encrptying website traffic. Some websites you visit will also contain an simple ssl self signed certificate. This mean that the certificate for the ssl connection was generated by the user for personal purposes and usually non-commercial purposes. Self signed certificates can be as good in some cases as ones you pay for. The only difference is do you know that website to be one you can trust, if so its ok to connect to that server then. The encryption will be as strong as a commercial certificate from a trusted provider.