What Are the Consequences of Not Having an SSL Certificate?
Websites are the backbone of every online business, and they need to ensure maximum security for the users. Majority of the sites do not have a secure HTTPS website, or they do not know how to use it properly. This can pose a considerable risk for businesses that need to safeguard the privacy of their customer data which might otherwise be misused or stolen by hackers.
Thus, installing an SSL certificate for your business website will prove to be useful for encrypting sensitive data and information by instilling greater confidence among your customers.
What is an SSL Certificate and why is it required?
SSL certificate helps to encrypt the data while passing it between web servers and websites. In general sense, the data is locked and can only be unlocked by the intended recipient so that all the sensitive information may be protected. Also, it provides authentication for your website and helps in building trust among your customers.
Benefits of SSL:
Protecting the privacy of users:
SSL protects your site even if it doesn’t manage sensitive information by offering privacy, security and ensuring data integrity for your website. The data which is shared across computer networks may be encrypted and becomes inaccessible to others and may be useful in preventing thefts.
Assurance to users:
SSL also builds trust among visitors and assures them about the website’s authenticity. SSL assures users that their online information will be passed through a secured channel.
Helps improve your site speed:
Installing HTTP certificate can help in improving the performance of your website, making a lot faster and helps in your search engine optimization efforts as well.
Improves the user experience:
Website security is a key factor to all users, as most of them would be apprehensive about sharing their personal information with anyone. But with SSL certificate, they are confident of making transactions on your site. Thus, SSL certificates can help in boosting your website conversion rates and engage more targeted visitors to your site.
However, different types of SSL certificates may be used depending on your business requirements. For example, multi-domain Certificates or UCC SSL certificates is more cost-effective and can secure different level of subdomains and domains in a single certificate.
Top risks of not having an SSL certificate on your website
Misuse of data:
If you do not have an SSL certificate on your website, then all the confidential information on your site might be accessed by hackers. This may lead to leakage of personal data of your customers, including payment details which may be compromised. These days, hackers can easily recognize vulnerable sites and cause disruptions which can be catastrophic for your business.
Downranking of websites:
Google has been working consistently over the years to encourage SSL encryption and in 2017, released Chrome 68 update for identifying unsecured sites. Secured websites may be identified using a green padlock before the URL. It prevents any third party from accessing traffic that may be passed between your web server and the browser.
In the absence of an SSL certificate, your website may be marked as insecure by Google and rated as not trustworthy because of which it might lose its rankings on the SERP.
MITM attacks:
MITM or Man in the Middle is a kind of attack where an attacker creates interference between two ends (server and browser). The attacker secretly alters the communication so that it can result in losses. Without an SSL certificate, all the communication traveling from the webserver to the client is accessible, which makes it easy for intruders to target such type of unsecured communication.
