In terms of how the Internet functions and how we use it, sharing information about ourselves have become second nature to us. We constantly update the Internet on what we do and where we are right at the moment. However, with this penchant for divulging personal information on the web comes the danger of getting hacked, doxxed, or phished for important data.
This problem is magnified further for companies with websites, because without securing the information being given and received through their websites, malicious web attackers will see it as easy pickings. For this reason, there is nothing more important than being able to buy SSL certificate for your website. It will not just protect your information from getting stolen, but it protects your visitors from the same thing as well.
One of Google’s efforts is to tag sites which are secured to visit, and they do this by looking for websites with SSL certificates. What you do not want to happen is for a visitor to see, in bright red, the words “Not Secure.” So to avoid losing a huge margin of audience, here are important reasons why you need to get an SSL certificate now.
Encryption of information being sent and received from the website
What a secure sockets layer (SSL) does is create a secure connection between the user’s browser and the website server. The first thing we need to understand about how packets of information travels from browser to server and vice versa is that it does not travel in one path. When you send an email attachment, that breaks up into different packets that does not follow the same information path and then assembles itself once they reach their destination.
An SSL certificate encrypts the information packets so that it does not get compromised on the way to the intended recipient. Encryption happens when an SSL puts random characters within the information packet. It now becomes unreadable to those who do not have the right encryption key. However, if the information packet is still obtained by a third party (hackers, doxxers, and phishers), it will remain unintelligible.
SSL certificates doubles down on information phishing
Recently, there was a phishing incident so serious that even Google mail was compromised. The Gmail sign in page was replicated, and users who have fallen victim to this reported that they had to sign in twice just to get to their inbox. But what happened was, they might have clicked on a sketchy link within their inbox during their last login, and this enabled phishers to redirect users to a second sign in page where they can get all the email passwords.
Fortunately, and like what was mentioned before, Google has a way to tag websites who has an encryption system. They put “Secure” or “Not Secure” before a website’s domain name, with an image of a padlock beside it. You can also determine if a website has an SSL certificate if their URL starts with the “https” protocol.
Because web attacks have become so prevalent, users are pretty much updated with what they need to look for to make sure a website is safe. So make sure your server is employing encryption.
