Do You Have A Secure Website?

If your website collects sensitive information from your visitors, such as passwords, credit card information and other personal data, it’s important that you have a secure website. In January of 2017, Google Chrome began marking sites without an HTTPS extension as non-secure. In other words, Chrome now requires HTTPS for sites that collect sensitive information. You may be wondering, what does that even mean? HTTP (HyerText Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) are both ‘protocols’, or languages that pass information between web servers and your customer base. Basically, the important factor is that HTTPS is a secure connection, whereas HTTP is not. With a standard connection, i.e., HTTP, it is possible for unauthorized parties (hackers) to observe the connection between your computing device and the site. For you to secure the information being shared among your visitors and your web server, you must incorporate an SSL Certificate.  An SSL Certificate activates a padlock on your web site so that the people visiting your site, and potentially putting in private information, are secure.  Failing to make sure you have a secure website is risky for you and your visitors. If your site allows the sending of sensitive information in clear text (HTTP) also risk exposure through the Internet to your private information. The information sent by you, or your customers on the internet is passed from device to device to get to the destination server. Any device between you and the server can see credit card numbers, user names, passwords and other sensitive information that isn’t encrypted. With an SSL certificate, the information becomes unreadable to everyone except the server to where the information is being sent. Cybercriminals are clever. Without a secure website, you are at a higher risk for cybercrime. They can easily identify weaknesses in your network, and will target personal information. Visitors to your site expect a secure and private online experience. When Search Revolutions adds a SSL certificate to your site, you will enhance your customers trust and confidence in your company.  Once the certificate is successfully installed on your server, the application protocol (HTTP) will change to HTTPS, where the ‘S’ stands for ‘secure’. Depending on the type of certificate you purchase, and which browser you use, will determine how your security visual will show up. They will see visuals like a padlock and/or a green address bar that indicates well-trusted encryption is installed. Also, securing your website can also build brand power and boost credibility of who you are on the internet. Though data protection is by far the biggest reason to have a SSL Certificate added to your site, there are also other advantages. HTTPS sites also load significantly faster. Besides that, back in 2014, Google said they would start giving preference to sites with an SSL certificate. In other words, your Google rankings can also improve. Search Revolutions can ensure you have a secure website, and that your visitors are protected. Once a secure connection is established, all web traffic between the server and the browser will be secure. As we look into the future, it’s clear that SSL certifications will be the standard in no time.