The push for encryption on the web has been going strong the last few years. As of July 24, 2018, Google Chrome will label all HTTP Sites as “Not Secure.” This is a push they promised to do several years ago and has now come to fruition. For that reason, I am proud to say that this blog is now 100% encrypted and secure!

This is primarily thanks to Let’s Encrypt, an initiative for free domain name SSL/TLS security provided by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG). Thanks to this service, the adoption of HTTPS as a standard has grown. Let’s Encrypt has secured more than 100 million websites and is trusted by all major root programs.

Now is a great time to get HTTPS going on any website. For me, it was as easy as creating a new A record for my domain to point to my hosting provider’s package. Then, since this site uses WordPress, I installed and enabled the WordPress HTTPS (SSL) Plug-in. Some may debate that not every site on the net needs encryption, however just having SSL/TLS can prevent someone visiting your site from getting caught in a man-in-the-middle attack as well as ensure their privacy from sniffers.

References:

Aas, J. (2018, August 6). Let’s Encrypt Root Trusted By All Major Root Programs. Retrieved August 11, 2018, from https://letsencrypt.org/2018/08/06/trusted-by-all-major-root-programs.html

Barrett, B. (2018, July 24). Google Chrome Now Labels HTTP Sites as ‘Not Secure’. Retrieved August 11, 2018, from https://www.wired.com/story/google-chrome-https-not-secure-label/

Hill, P. (2018, July 24). Let’s Encrypt recently passed 100M secured sites mark. Retrieved August 11, 2018, from https://www.neowin.net/news/lets-encrypt-recently-passed-100m-secured-sites-mark