July 13, 2018

Just a quick post to let you know that later this month, all sites that aren’t currently using SSL / HTTPS will be marked as Not Secure by the Google Chrome browser. When Chrome 56 is released, the address bar will be adjusted as follows:

Firefox, Safari and other browser will follow their lead soon, and all browsers will in time move to more obvious highlighting, with red text and icons. This is already the case in several browsers when logins and data are about to be sent to the server over HTTP, as in the example from Firefox below:

We have recommended using HTTPS for any sort of data transfer for a couple of years now, including simple contact forms that could leak private data such as email addresses and phone numbers, and with the GDPR that is even more important now.

We now recommend that all sites use HTTPS at all times, primarily because of the upcoming change and the security / confidence HTTPS will provide, and because it will provide a minor boost to search engine results in your category.

We carry SSL certs from all of the major vendors, and we’re happy to advise you on the best type and brand of cert for your website. Our recommended certs are available to order directly from our website, or you can contact us to tell us about your current setup and future plans, and we’ll let you know if another cert would be more appropriate.