In 2006, the CA Browser Forum, a group of leading SSL Certificate Authorities (CAs) and browser vendors, approved standard practices for certificate validation and visibility called the Extended Validation (EV) SSL Guidelines.
To issue an SSL Certificate that complies with the standard, a CA must adopt the extended certificate validation practices and pass an audit.
When shoppers visit a Web site secured with an EV SSL Certificate, high-security browsers will trigger the address bar to turn green and display the name of the organization listed in the certificate as well as the Certificate Authority. The browser and the Certificate Authority control the display, making it difficult for phishers and counterfeiters to hijack your brand and your customers.