Why Does Chrome Say My Website Is Not Secure? The Importance of SSL
What is SSL
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer; a standard technology used to secure data transfers between servers, or from a server to a web browser. In short, it prevents hackers from accessing personal or sensitive data including credit card numbers, names, addresses, etc. In order to enable SSL on a website, one needs to purchase an SSL Certificate. If a site has an SSL Certificate it is represented by the “https” at the beginning of the site’s URL. HTTPS stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure.
Why it’s Important to get your SSL Certificate as soon as possible
Now you know that an SSL Certificate provides your website with security. But what exactly is the Certificate providing you? First off, as mentioned earlier, the SSL is used to keep sensitive data sent from server to browser/server encrypted so that the personal information being transferred is secured.
Next, starting July, 1, if you do not have an SSL Certificate, Google Chrome will label your website as “(i) Not Secure” at the beginning of your URL. This will become hard to ignore as customers will see this appear on when giving personal information such as form submissions, credit card submissions, etc. Therefore, obtaining an SSL Certificate reassures site visitors that your website can be trusted with the information they are sending. Other browsers such as Firefox and Safari are not far behind Chrome. Both already have a warning in place if “https” is not present. However, neither has announced plans to enable the “(i) Not Secure” warning like Chrome yet.
In addition, not only does this serve as a warning to site visitors, but failing to obtain an SSL certificate may negatively impact your website’s organic search engine rankings. Lastly, in order to accept credit card information on your website, your website has to remain PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. One of the PCI standards is to obtain an SSL Certificate.
How We Can Help
We know it’s a lot to take in, but Bytes is here to help! If you do not have an SSL Certificate and would like to purchase one, contact us to find out more information and receive your Certificate today.
