> The cheapest SSL options there ($20 and under) offer NO verification of the applicant of the certificate. Your logic is wrong here. It is totally unimportant

> The cheapest SSL options there ($20 and under) offer NO verification of the applicant of the certificate. Your logic is wrong here. It is totally unimportant which CA you use, as long as any commonly trusted CA just checks the domain ownership using a mail address. A man-in-the-middle could simply replace your cert with that one and the user gets no warning. > Stick with either EV Green/blue bars are a remarkable feature the user sees and might give trust. Those one are already available for $200 for 2 years. But I'm not sure if a user would realize that a MITM attack has removed the color. He wouldn't get a warning as long as any valid cert is still used. See my response above. > or a high-assurance only If you need assurance, then yes. But a normal user doesn't care of that. And you should then also check the exact terms and conditions as well as other assurance services.