ReVisited: SSL Certificates and the “This Website is Not Secure” Message

Less than a year ago I penned the post “What You Should Know About The “This Website is Not Secure” Message. The post discussed the message that some browsers display if a website SSL certificate is not being used.  Today I’m revisiting it because things have changed.

In my original post when posing the question of whether you needed an SSL certificate I said:

“ If you have a website or blog that doesn’t require login or sharing of personal information the answer is probably not yet.”

At the time I wrote it, the murmurings were there in the world of websites and Google rules. I thought that eventually an SSL certificate would be necessary for all websites.  Eventually now has a date and it’s July 2018.

The Little Lock Icon = SSL Certificate

If your site is missing that little lock icon and an ‘s’ at the end of the http in your url, your site will be designated as insecure by Google. This will tell your visitors that your website does not encrypt any information being collected. And while you still may not be collecting personal information, the ‘Not Secure’ message is bound to frighten the average visitor to your website. It will also mean a lower search engine ranking on Google if your site is without an SSL certificate.

Those reasons alone don’t convince you to look into purchasing an SSL certificate for your website(s)? View it as the wise choice to keep your visitors and users of your website safe and secure.  Unlike years ago, when you could rest in the idea that your website wasn’t a blip on the radar with hackers, that’s no longer the case.  The frequency of malicious code injections and cryptocurrency mining hacks are proof that even the smallest, most insignificant websites now have targets on their backs.

I’m Taking My Own Advice

In the coming weeks I’ll be installing SSL certificates for my own websites, even though any personal information I may collect is currently done via services that have been secure all along, like Mailchimp or PayPal.

It’s just the smart; and right thing to do.