Online Certificate Status Protocol (OSCP) is a protocol for checking the status of an online certificate. In other words, OCSP is a set of steps taken to check the status of your SSL Certificate before your website is shown to the visitor. During this multi-step process the browser and your server will check/prove the identity of your website and then encrypt all information shared between the browser and the server so that hackers and phishers can’t intercept the data transfer.