[slipangel]

The a248 cert is used for all SSL requests for properties delivered over Akamai's non-ssl network. It's useful to be able to serve SSL requests even if the cert doesn't have a the hostname in question on it.

Regarding the cipher sneering below: Akamai's default settings probably err on the side of acceptance. Not all of their customers are Amazon.coms - mom & pop ecommerce are unlikely to do anything that would cause a visitor's SSL connection to fail, and changing the ciphers back to the high-acceptance settings would increase their cost of implementation per cert. I'm guessing they manage more than a few of those.