Looking back over the Octagon archives confirmed it’s been a little over a year since we covered the subject of SSL certificates and why it’s so important to have one.
So here’s a short recap for any of our clients (and others) that still don’t have one.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that as a website owner you want to keep the trust of your site visitors, but nowadays web browsers are warning their users when a website is not secure i.e. doesn’t have an SSL certificate. See the example below:
Secondly, and most importantly, it’s now the law:
“If you are storing personal data, or transmitting it over the internet, we recommend that you use encryption and have a suitable policy in place, taking account of the residual risks involved.” (ICO., 2018).
Without SSL encryption, hackers can read the data packets exchanged with the domain as plain text, and if you are collecting personally identifiable information via your website without SSL encryption, this is a breach of GDPR.
Many websites have login facilities for the use of their customers and it is this information (usernames and passwords) that could be compromised if secure encryption (SSL) isn’t used. But even if a website doesn’t provide login facilities for their customers, if the website owner is logging into a Content Management System (CMS e.g. WordPress, Joomla, Drupal) and there is no SSL certificate, then the username and password could be compromised.
And such a situation will almost enevitably lead to the owner’s website being hacked, with all the attendant problems that could cause.
For the small cost of an SSL certificate these issues could be avoided greatly reducing the chances of a successful security breach.
Getting an SSL certificate makes sense
Alex
For further information or to discuss any requirements you may have contact our office on 01522 797520.
