self-assigned ssl certificates on nginx vhosts
Self-Assigned ssl certificates are basically ssl certificates you create yourself on your own server. They will through a mean looking error at the user, but if you are the only user they are a great way to secure your data over the internet. Once you add an exception to the certificate, it is pretty much just as secure as any other ssl certificate as far as I currently know.
Slicehost once again has the answers: