What is all the fuss?
Google announced that in July 2018 They will be putting through an update for Google Chrome that alerts the user of any site that is not running HTTPS encryption. This means that if your website does not have an SSL certificate installed they will mark all HTTP sites as ‘not secure’ and prominently highlight this in its URL bar.
Google has slowly been advocating the need for secure websites with a release that alerted users on any page that had either a password or a credit card number input field. But have now stepped it up a notch, requiring all websites to be secure.
Google Chrome browser is now the most widely used browser of all.
What is encryption and how does it work?
When you visit a website your browser asks for information from the server where the files are kept that make up the website.In turn when you submit a form with your details the browser sends this information across the internet to the server. By default, HTTP. This information is readable by any third party that might happen to intercept it. If you have an HTTPS (secure) website, the information is encrypted when it travels to and from the server. this means someone trying to hijack the data is unable to easily read or decipher it.
What are the benefits?
Secure Site
You will have a secure website that your visitors feel comfortable browsing around and interacting with.
SEO optimised
Websites that are secure rank higher with Google Searches. Google favors websites that promote security and safety over ones that do not.
What do I need to do?
If you do not currently have a secure website we would highly recommend getting your developer to install and configure an SSL certificate for you before its too late. Unity Web can help you make your websites secure. Get in touch.