Learn more about what is an SSL certificate and why you should add it to your site.
What is an SSL certificate and how does it work?
When a user visits your site, there is a connection established between his or her browser and the server of your page. If the site is lacking an SSL certificate, the connection is not secure and the data that the user leaves on your site is not protected. Note that the user shares his or her data with you, e.g. during:
- login
- leaving an email address,
- providing contact details,
- paying by credit card, etc.
Leaving such data on a site that has not decided on SSL implementation means that the moderately skilled hacker could capture above-mentioned personal information, and then redirect it to another location or simply use it.
Why is the site with an SSL certificate secure?
Well, an SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) is an Internet protocol that encrypts the connection between the browser and the page server. It uses an AES key (for example 256-bit) to encrypt the data sent to the page by your users. Such an algorithm is unbreakable for hackers, thanks to which your users’ data is safe.
Users know when your site is secure
Year by year, Internet users more often leave data on the web. They are also increasingly aware of the need to protect such information. Therefore, most of them will not have problems with assessing whether your site has decided on SSL implementation or is still unsecured.
Just look at the URL bar of your page. In the case of an SSL certificate on a page, the connection uses the secure HTTPS protocol, which starts the URL address. A padlock icon may appear next to it. It also happens that the address bar is all green (in the case of SSL certificates that provide the best data protection). Remember that having or not an SSL certification affects the trust of your users or clients to the site.
SSL implementation not only for the sake of users
Even if users miss the page's URL bar, Google will inform them that the site is not secure. How? Well, Google announced that from July 2018 it will start to flag all pages lacking SSL as Not Secure. Such a notification will be displayed when a user tries to enter an unsecured site. SSL certificate soon will also begin a ranking factor for Google. It means that pages lacking it will be punished with lower positions in the search results.
Do websites need an SSL certificate to be GDPR compliant?
If you do not worry about being in Google’s bad books, perhaps a new European law will convince you into implementing SSL. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force on May 25, 2018. It assumes that every page that processes personal or sensitive data must be secured with an SSL certificate. Remember that you process data even if you use a simple contact form on the website.
