SSL Certificates & Google Chrome – Is your site secure?

21 May 2018

Change is on the horizon for how Google handles sites with & without SSL certificates

Google has been focusing on making the web safer for users for a long time now. In fact, last year in addition to prioritising websites with SSL certificates (secure sites) within the search results, Google introduced an update to Google Chrome to display a website’s security status within the address bar. Although on the face of it this sounds like a simple change, the effects were huge. The change meant that if a site was running on HTTP (not secure) instead of HTTPS (secure), a message appeared labelling the site as “Not Secure” and vice versa. The label essentially outright tells visitors that sensitive information such as passwords and payment details are not protected. Even users who aren’t tech savvy have claimed that the new label deterred them from completing an order or signing up to a website.

As we reach the midpoint of the year, Google has again announced that more changes are on the horizon for how Google Chrome labels both HTTPS and HTTP sites. To help to make the changes easier to understand, we’ve broken them down into a handy timeline:

July 2018 – Starting with version 68 of Google Chrome, ALL HTTP websites will be marked as “Not Secure”.
September 2018 – By September, version 69 of Google Chrome will then remove the “Secure” label for HTTPS sites so all sites with SSL certificates installed will show the following display (the idea here being that secure sites are actually becoming the norm):
October 2018 – By October, version 70 will start showing a red “not secure” warning when users enter data on HTTP pages. Addressing the change, Google said, “Previously, HTTP usage was too high to mark all HTTP pages with a strong red warning” but as more and more sites install SSL’s and switch make the secure, the change has become possible. Here’s what to expect (yes the little label will flash up too just to really grab the attention of visitors):

Find out more about SSL certificates today

With a clear emphasis being placed upon SSL certificates by the search masters themselves, ensuring that your website is secure is vital, especially if you run an eCommerce store or you handle customer data. Not only does switching to HTTPS make your site appear more trustworthy, giving users peace of mind with every click, but it can also help you to perform better in the search results. What’s more, with GDPR on the horizon, a real emphasis has been placed upon how businesses handle customer data – with an SSL certificate, businesses can ensure that data transferred via the connection between the browser and the server is encrypted, reducing the risk of a data breach.

So, if you’re interested in finding out more about SSL certificates or you’re looking to make the switch safely, speak to our expert team today or pop in for a coffee! We’ve installed hundreds of SSL’s to date and can therefore provide you with friendly, expert advice – whether you run a large eCommerce store or you’re a small start-up.